25km tailback returns to normal on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge Highway

A 25km gridlock on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge Highway was freed after 1:00pm today, easing immense sufferings of the Eid-ul-Azha holidaymakers.

The long tailback started early morning today as holidaymakers thronged out to their hometowns but it was smooth sailing from afternoon till now.

Law enforcers and volunteers have been toiling on highways to ease the gridlock mainly caused by the extra pressure of vehicles including the movement of the unfit ones.

The two-lane road from Elenga to Bangabandhu Bridge is currently being used for one-way traffic to ease the congestion.

Cow trader Delwar Hossain said, "There is a lot of traffic from Sirajganj to Tangail. The cows are also suffering. We will have to face huge losses if we fail to reach Dhaka by tonight."

Echoing the same, Babu Mia, a truck driver carrying sacrificial animals from Dinajpur, said, "It took me almost 12 hours to reach Jokar Char in Kalihati upazila of Tangail from Nolka union in Sirajganj.

"The hot and humid weather is making matters worse for everyone."

A source from the Bangabandhu Bridge toll plaza said, "Usually, about 12-13 thousand vehicles cross the bridge but the number of vehicles largely increases ahead of holidays like Eid.

"Around Tk2,7,233,055 has been collected from vehicles from Wednesday noon to Thursday noon," he added.

When contacted, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bangabandhu Bridge (east) police station Shafiqul Islam said, "Many unfit vehicles broke down on the highway here. It took us quite some time to remove them from the streets."