Political demos hold up city traffic
The sit-in programme of the BNP and the ruling Awami League's counter gathering in the capital coincided to form a commuter's nightmare on Wednesday, as traffic came to a virtual standstill for hours.
Till the filing of this report at 9:00pm, most of the roads in Dhanmondi, Shahbagh, Paltan, Kakrail, Motijheel and Puran Dhaka areas were gridlocked, even more so than other days in the already traffic-choked city.
Commuters, especially office-goers to Motijheel, faced intense tailbacks both to and from work.
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Nayeem Akhter, who was travelling to Motijheel, told The Business Standard that he usually reaches Badda within 30-45 minutes in the morning, but yesterday he was stuck in the road for more than one-and-a-half hours.
Where it takes about less than 30 minutes to go to Dilkusha from Rampura in the capital by motorcycle, on Wednesday a commuter said it took around an hour.
Some office goers also said the situation was similar in other parts of the capital.
Traffic congestion was especially heavy on the Motijheel and Paltan-bound roads.
Leaders and activists of the Bangladesh National Party started gathering in the Paltan area from different areas at 9:00am.
The sit-in programme attendees came in small processions, disrupting the regular flow of traffic.
Meanwhile, the AL's metro south and north units also began demonstrating at the Bangabandhu Avenue and Mirpur Shah Ali Mazar Road.
The Dhaka City Jubo League south unit also held a procession at the Central Shaheed Minar, while its north unit held one in Farmgate.
The Bangladesh Chhatra League central committee members took to the streets in Shahbagh area, starting from Wednesday morning.
Bus commuters bore the brunt of the fallout of the different programmes.
Sohel Mia, a helper of Shikhar Paribahan Bus, said traffic was worse than other days, with many passengers forced to walk to their destinations.
An additional deputy police commissioner of the traffic division, requesting anonymity, said they could not make any diversion as the BNP got approval for the sit-in at the eleventh hour, while different political wings of the ruling party held processions in different areas at the same time.
"Traffic personnel tried their best and we didn't allow anyone to block entire roads. There were more vehicles on the road than yesterday as well," he told TBS.
