Heavy traffic congestion hits Dhaka as offices reopen for limited hours

Following several days of eerily quiet streets, Dhaka residents woke up to traffic gridlock on Wednesday as public and private offices, including banks, reopened for limited hours with the government relaxing the curfew from 10am to 5pm.

Offices had been closed for the past five days, including two weekends plus three days of general holidays that concluded on Tuesday. For now, the office hours have been fixed from 11am till 3pm.

Commuters told TBS that the partial easing of the curfew caused a rush of people on the roads trying to reach their destinations. Public transportation, such as buses, was less frequent. Additionally, the closure of metro rail services and the Dhaka elevated expressway led to an increase in private vehicles, worsening the traffic congestion.

Heavy congestion was observed in the capital's Farmgate, Mirpur, Sayedabad, Motijheel, Kalyanpur, Banani, Tejgaon, Mohakhali, and other areas.

At the Agargaon intersection, several passengers were waiting for a bus. Awal Mia is one of them.

He told TBS, "I have to go to my office in Motijheel. Initially, I took a rickshaw from Shawrapara but then I decided to walk to Agargaon due to gridlock. The few buses that are running are already packed with passengers, so I am waiting."

Tarek Sekander, assistant commissioner of the Sher Bangla Nagar Zone Traffic Police, said, "The metro rail is closed due to vandalism in its stations, and the road in front of Ganabhaban is shut for security reasons."

As a result, all vehicles from Kalyanpur, Mirpur, Gabtali, and Shyamli were diverted to the Agargaon route, causing heavy congestion on the road until 12:30 pm," he added.

A similar situation was observed in Farmgate, another busy intersection in Dhaka. Shamsul Haque was standing at Farmgate, waiting for a bus. He said, "I have to travel to Banglamotor, but there are no vehicles available."

Severe traffic jams were seen in the Banani and Mohakhali areas of the capital.

Bijoy, who spent three hours travelling from Dhanmondi to Banani, said, "I could have arrived faster on foot. I ended up walking more than half the distance because vehicles were barely moving due to the congestion. My appointment was at noon, and now it's 1:30 p.m. I've wasted the entire day's energy."

Despite the shortage of public transport, BRTC buses were seen on Dhaka's streets on Wednesday. However, heavy traffic congestion caused considerable inconvenience for commuters.

One passenger in Moghbazar, Shimul Adhikari, said, "I need to visit a relative at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, but with public transport scarce, I'm stuck here, not to mention the traffic jams."

Traffic remained heavy throughout the afternoon, particularly on the route from Mouchak-Moghbazar to Mohakhali.

Soumi Imtiaz, assistant commissioner of police (Motijheel zone) said the sudden resumption of office activities has led to increased traffic pressure on the roads.