An eight kilometre long tailback has been created on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Narayanganj following excessive rainfall, causing suffering to commuters.
Women, children, office-goers and students were the worst sufferers.
Many office-goers were seen heading towards their destinations on foot amid the rain as vehicles got stranded on both sides of the highway.
Locals said the traffic gridlock started on Wednesday night after the heavy rainfall that submerged some parts of the highway, resulting in an eight km jam stretching from Siddhirganj's Sanarpara to Bandar's Keodhala area.
One Gafur Hossain, who got stuck in the traffic jam, said he boarded a bus from Shani Akhra at 7am to go to office. The bus could reach Kanchpur Bridge and then it got stranded due to a long tailback. "Today I missed the office."
Another passenger Abdur Rahim alleged that said there have been no efforts by the law enforcement agencies to restore discipline on the road.
"I have been stranded in a traffic jam since the morning. The bus in which I am travelling took around one hour to reach the Kanchpur Bridge from the Mouchhak bus stand," he said.
Abu Nayeem, traffic inspector of Kanchpur highway police station, said the traffic gridlock was created after some vehicles went out of order in Keodhala and Langalbandh areas on the waterlogged road and movement of vehicles from the opposite direction.
"We have already removed some vehicles from the highway and efforts are on to remove the rest," he said, adding that they have been facing trouble in performing duty due to heavy rain.
Several teams have been working to reduce the traffic jam, he said, hoping that the normalcy on the road will return soon.
