The transport sector is concerned about the suffering of passengers on this 15-kilometer road from Ashulia's Dhowr to Dhaka EPZ via Bypail. The road is already narrow as the work on the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway is ongoing. On the other hand, potholes in the road will further increase the suffering at various places. Vehicles move slowly on this road during normal times. And therefore, these road users are worried about the additional traffic pressure surrounding the Eid pilgrimage.
The Abdullahpur-Bypail and Nabinagar-Chandra roads are two of the main roads for commuting from Dhaka to North Bengal. Thousands of vehicles from 22 districts of the northern and northwestern regions of the country use this road every day. The number of vehicles on the road increases several times around Eid. Currently, the work of the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway is underway from the EPZ of this road to Abdullahpur in the capital via Ashulia. This has narrowed the road. Traffic jams occur on this road during normal times. There is a fear that it will take hours to travel this route during the Eid journey.
Md. Shafiq Ahmed, a driver of Nader Paribahan who left from North Bengal, said, "There will be more cars during Eid than at present. Even then, we drivers have to be a little aware. Those who will be responsible for resolving traffic congestion on the road and the drivers have to be aware. If auto-rickshaws are controlled and traffic laws are followed, traffic congestion can be reduced."
Due to the development work, potholes have been created at various places on the road. There is a rush of auto-rickshaws. Therefore, there is a possibility of suffering due to the additional pressure of the Eid journey.
We spoke to Nazmul Huda, a driver of a goods transport vehicle, in the by-pass area of the road. He said, the condition of the by-pass on the Nabinagar-Chandra highway is bad. The potholes, cars cannot pass through. Big trucks cannot pass through at all. If they were repaired, the traffic jam would have reduced a little. We have to sit in traffic jams on this by-pass for hours. Currently, the Eid market has not arrived, and now an hour has passed, when the garment factories are closed, the pressure of people will increase, then how much traffic jam will there be.
When the Eid holidays begin in the industrial area of Ashulia, a flood of garment workers will take to the roads. Therefore, to reduce the pressure of passengers on the roads, the garment factories should be closed in stages and the passengers and drivers should be more aware to avoid accidents and traffic jams.
Khairul Mamun Mintu, Legal Affairs Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Sweater Workers Trade Union Center, said, "You know that every year we see that many types of obstacles and jams are created due to holidays in the garment industries at the same time." Due to which I will request the garment owners to give garment holidays in phases so that no kind of ha-z-bar-l situation is created. And I will especially request the worker brothers and sisters not to go to the village they are going to, on the truck they are going to, on the roof of the bus. So that they can go safely. You will fix this yourself.
He also said, do not eat food from strangers while traveling. And I will request the police brothers that you know that there will be a holiday on the 25th in the garment industry, so I hope you will take strict measures so that the workers can travel in that industrial area without any problems.
I want a safe road Dhamrai Thana Committee President Nahid Mia said, drivers drive recklessly hoping to make multiple trips around Eid, which leads to accidents. Since the work on the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway is going on for road development, we will want to know how it can be brought into a beautiful system. Because traffic jams occur ahead of Eid, it must be brought under good monitoring, so that we can give the gift of a traffic-free Eid.
Police say that special preparations are being made to handle the additional pressure of Eid on the roads, maximum efforts will be made to ensure smooth Eid travel.
Dhaka District Police Superintendent Md. Anisuzzaman said, this construction work cannot be avoided, it cannot be stopped. The construction work is for the residents of Ashulia, for the residents of Dhaka, for the people of the city. People come to Dhaka and people go out of Dhaka. The construction work will continue. We will deploy our personnel during this construction work so that people do not suffer, we have requested those who are engaged in the construction work to divert vehicles or use service roads to cross the roads. People will be able to go without any problems. There is no problem, we are making arrangements with our manpower to quickly cross the incoming and outgoing vehicles. We will have a good deployment before Eid.
He also said, "We will have a lot of deployment to control road crime during this time, our police will work, our detectives will work and we will make every effort to ensure a safe Eid journey for people." Most factories in the Savar-Ashulia industrial area will be declared closed on March 25. Multiple sources have said that the factories will start closing in stages from March 26. From then on, the main pressure on this road will begin. With everyone's combined efforts, the Eid journey will be free of suffering and safe, this is the hope of the people rushing home for Eid.
