Commuters in Dhaka have been stuck for hours in traffic jams triggered by incessant rains since Tuesday morning.
Students and office-goers suffered immensely due to traffic chaos at several points of Dhaka, including Tongi, Uttara, Airport, Mohakhali, Bijoy Sarani and Bangla Motor areas. Vehicles were seen stranded for hours on these roads.
Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) of Uttara Division, Nafiz Kamal Shoibal said a one-km long tailback was seen from Munno Gate to Milgate area in Tongi and a number of vehicles were passing through with caution due to the dilapidated condition of the road.
Potholes developed on the road and it tuned muddy due to the ongoing work of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
Joint Commissioner (Traffic-North), Abu Saleh Md Raihan, said the impact of the tailback spread to the other important points of Dhaka, causing untold sufferings to the commuters.
Shariful Islam, a private service-holder, said it took him four hours to reach Mouchak from Uttara due to the traffic gridlock.
“The vehicles remained stalled for hours amid rain,” he said.
Commuters including office-goers, school and college students were the worst sufferers, as they had to wait for a long time to reach their destinations due to the gridlock.
Besides, road repair works, the metro rail and Dhaka Elevated Expressway projects also added to the commuters’ woes.
Jahanara Chowdhury, a resident of Malibagh area, said, “There is nobody to see people’s woes. Dhaka Elevated Expressway project work at Tejgaon section turned the whole area into a battle field due to poor management of the project. It’s a nightmare for each guardian to drop and pick-up their children from different schools and colleges located there due to the dilapidated road and huge traffic gridlock.”
“The situation aggravated today with torrential rains and I got stuck in Tejgaon area for a long time due to terrible traffic congestion,” she said.
Monowar Hossain, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said 33 mm of rainfall was recorded from 6 am to 12 pm today in Dhaka while they recorded 32 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours from 6 am Monday till 6 am Tuesday.
According to the Met office, Bangladesh may experience heavy to very heavy showers in the next 24 hours.
Besides, light to moderate rains or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally winds and lightning flashes are likely to occur at most places over these divisions.
