People suffer for gridlocks even on holiday
The victory procession started from in front of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh and ended at Dhanmondi 32 in the capital
Commuters in Dhaka had to endure gridlocks on city roads on Saturday, a weekly holiday, as hundreds of people came out to the streets to take part in victory procession, organised by the ruling Awami League marking the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence.
The halt in vehicular movement stretching from Matsya Bhaban in Shahbagh to Dhanmondi 32 centring the procession ultimately affected the traffic in other parts of the capital.
The roads leading to the rally starting point in front of Engineers' Institution Bangladesh were choked with vehicles carrying AL activists. However, the capital city was empty due to three-day consecutive holidays for Victory Day and weekly holidays.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The gridlock on the street stretching from Matsya Bhaban-Kakrail-Shahbagh- Science Lab to Asad gate was too bad as both sides of the streets were blocked with vehicles coming from other districts, carrying AL leaders and activists, said witnesses.
"Commuters suffer due to gridlock on the streets even on the holiday thanks to the victory procession. I got stuck at a traffic jam for one and a half hours near Matsya Bhaban to reach Jatiya Press Club from Shahbagh," said Jamil Hossain, a commuter in the city.
Another commuter Md Shafik, who was going to Birdem Hospital with his burn-injured mother, told TBS from Narayanganj, I along with my wife and mother started for the hospital at 12 noon. Due to the nagging traffic jam, we were forced to go through Moghbazar to reach Paribagh and waited there for a long time. Then we, along with the injured mother wrapped with bandages, started for the hospital on foot.
The victory procession started at around 3:30pm from in front of The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh and ended at Dhanmondi 32 no in the capital city.
However, Hafiz Al Asad, additional deputy commissioner (media and public relations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said the capital city witnessed the traffic congestion for a short time.
He told The Business Standard that due to the victory procession, the roads leading to Shahbagh saw traffic jams for some time. After the start of the procession, the traffic on these roads became normal.
