Dhaka roads crawl with commuters on Ramadan eve

Vehicles have been moving at a snail pace – that's how a traffic official described the scenario on the roads today (11 March).

On the eve of Ramadan, it appears people have been quite hasty to reach home to their table spread of the first sehri of the holy month. 

Commuters and home-goers have been complaining that they had to wait hours to reach their destinations this evening.

According to Google maps, the roads are marked red due to citywide tailbacks of vehicles.

Taking to Facebook, Kazi Tamanna Ferdush, a legal practitioner wrote, "Dhaka's road has been so cute recently! House of Chief Justice (Kakrail) to Officers club-1 hour, Officers Club to Mogbazar flyover 1.15 hours! Okay, now I am leaving… Counting time to reach home today! Tata bye bye." 

A commuter Hasan Ahmed wrote on Facebook's Traffic Alert group, "The more days Dhaka's traffic system is maintained by manual system – with the direction of hands by traffic sergeants till then we have to go through unbearable pain on roads. Kudos to the manual traffic management system." 

Another commuter Sheikh MD Moniruzzaman Abir told The Business Standard that the Mohakhali-Banani road was packed with vehicles and he had been waiting for at least an hour on the Gulshan link road. 

When asked, Muttajul Islam, assistant commissioner of Shahbagh traffic zone said there are usually more vehicles on the road on the first eve of Ramadan. 

"More people come out to buy groceries and commodities before Ramadan. And some people want to pray the first Tarabi at different mosques across the city. That is why traffic congestion is terrible tonight," he added. 

The traffic official also explained that Dhaka roads – Mohakhali-Banani, Kakrail-Moghbazar, Shahbagh-Fargmate and New Market-Mirpur Road are more crowded than usual. 

"Vehicle movement is at a snail pace in those areas," he said.

Ariful Islam Rony, assistant commissioner of Mohakhali traffic zone, said, "I have seen more buses than usual at the Mohakhali Bus terminal. I can assume that some people are leaving the city ahead of Rmaadan. And as it's the Ramadan eve. So, most people left office around the same hour and started rushing home which caused the long tailback." 

At around 9:30pm, the roads started to free up after a good 2-3 hours of being jampacked, said a Nilima, who was heading home to Mohammadpur from Eskaton Garden Road.