Commuters suffer due to tailback on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway

Hundreds of vehicles and commuters got stuck in a 12-kilometre-long tailback on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway's Tongi early Wednesday due to water logging.

The tailback stretched out till Banani in Dhaka as a result of the highway's traffic. Passengers on that route, including office workers, were suffering the most.

Vehicles from Banani-Airport portion of the road were seen standing on the road for hours after hours.

Local sources said as the day progressed, the line of vehicles was getting long from 5:00am. Traffic congestion had been created from Tongi's Millgate on the Mymensingh-bound lane to Banani and Tongi's Board Bazar on the Dhaka-bound lane.

Humayun Kabir, a resident of Board Bazar area, said the drain on the side of the road has been filled with garbage. As a result, the water overflows and accumulates in the potholes of the highway.

Moreover, the road from Abdullahpur to Chandra intersection in Gazipur has become narrow due to the ongoing work of the BRT project. Suffering from rainwater accumulation on potholed roads has now become a regular occurrence.

Due to the traffic congestion, commuters, especially office-goers, were facing immense suffering. All the vehicles became standstill on the road and the line of vehicles was getting long, he added.

There were traffic jams from Tongi's Millgate area to Dhaka's Banani on the Mymensingh-bound road and Tongi's Board Bazar area on the Dhaka-bound road from the morning, said Rafiq, a resident of Tongi Bazar.

One of the main reasons behind this congestion is waterlogging from the incessant rainfall caused by cyclone Sitrang and road repair works in Gazipur, he added.

Nuruzzaman, an employee of a private organisation, said he had been stuck on Tongi Station Road for one and a half hours.

A policeman working at Abdullahpur traffic police box said on the condition of anonymity due to the sudden rain throughout the day on Monday due to the impact of Cyclone Sitrang, water has accumulated in the potholes of the road. As a result, the wheels of the moving vehicles fell into those holes, causing bigger holes. Due to this, the wheels of the vehicles got stuck in the potholes causing traffic jams.

The road from Abdullahpur to Chandra intersection in Gazipur has narrowed due to the ongoing work of the BRT project, he also said.

BRT project director Mahirul Islam said that the permanent construction of the road is going on. When the work is completed by November, there will be no more suffering.