A 15-km-long tailback was formed on Wednesday on the Dhaka-Tangail highway on the Tangail side of the Bangabandhu Bridge as vehicle pressure grew on both sides of the bridge ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Besides, passengers of train had to face inordinate delays on Wednesday, the first day of Eid journey by trains, as some of the trains departed Kamalapur Railway Station late.
According to police and transport workers, since midnight, vehicles have been moving slowly due to the ongoing construction work of the four-lane highway project and the excessive rush of vehicles.
By the morning, the tailback expanded to the Rasulpur area of Tangail in the morning, witnesses report from Tangail.
According to Elenga Highway Police In-Charge Sajedur Rahman, the movement of construction trucks of the ongoing four-lane highway construction project on the eastern end of the bridge to Elenga is hampering the vehicles’ uninterrupted progress.
He also blamed reckless driving and a sudden rise in the number of vehicles plying on the road as the reasons for the gridlock.
“Hopefully, the situation will improve as the day progresses,” he said, adding that there was no traffic jam in Elenga.
Besides, Dhaka-bound passengers and commuters also faced heavy traffic congestion on the entire link road from Gol Chattar on the eastern end of the bridge.
Eid journey by train begins
Eid holiday-goers had to face delays on Wednesday, the first day of Eid journey by trains, as some of the trains departed Kamalapur Railway Station late.
The Sylhet-bound Parabat Express, Kishoreganj-bound Egarosindhur Express and the Rangpur Express ran late.
The Parabat Express, scheduled to leave at 6:30am, had not left the station at 8am.
“The train was scheduled to start at 6:30am. Then the authorities said it would leave at 7:15 am. But that time has also passed. There’s no info on when the train will actually depart,” said Murad Sarkar, a Dhaka University student set to travel on the train.
The Parabat Express reached platform No. 1 at 8:15am. A train staff member said that the train usually reached the platform at 5:30am but it was three hours late on Wednesday. “Nobody knows why the train came late,” he said.
The Parabat Express eventually left Kamalapur Station at 8:33am.
The Kishoreganj-bound Egarosindhur morning train was scheduled to leave Dhaka at 7:15am. It had not reached the platform at 8:30am and passengers were left waiting.
Ariful Islam, a resident of Badd, had come to see his family off to Kishoreganj for the Eid holidays. “They will get off at Kishoreganj and then travel to Karimganj. The train was supposed to depart at 7:15am, but it has yet to reach the platform. The children are irked now because of the hot weather and are saying they want to go back home,” he said.
The Egarosindhur Express finally left the station at 9:25am, two hours and 10 minutes after its scheduled departure time.
The Mohanagar Prabhati Express going to Chattogram set off at 8am instead of 7:45am.
The Rangpur Express was scheduled to leave at 9:10 am but only reached the platform at 9:30am.
Sathi Akter had come to the station from Narayanganj to travel to Naogaon’s Santahar aboard the Rangpur Express. She said she usually came early with her child so the train was not crowded.
“This time the train is running late. We were informed by SMS in the morning that the Rangpur Express was running two hours late. My husband has to go to his office after seeing us off, so I had to come early. I have been waiting at the station in this hot weather with my child. Anyway, it wasn’t as late as we expected,” she said.
The Dewanganj Special Train was scheduled to depart at 9:25am but had not left the station as of 9:45am.
At least 69 trains will leave Kamalapur Railway Station before Eid each day, said Station Manager Mohammad Masud Sarwar. As many as 12 trains left Kamalapur as of 9:30am on Wednesday.
“The Parabat Express and Egarosindhur Express ran a bit late in the morning. But other trains were not delayed so long,” said Masud Sarwar.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on June 17. The Bangladesh Railway kicked off the trains for Eid journeys on Wednesday.
