Commuters heading home ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha had to suffer through a 35km-long tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangbandhu Bridge Highway in the district on Saturday. What began as usual snarls on the high-speed corridor late on Friday night turned into monster jams by this morning -- all due to a mad rush of vehicles carrying home-bound people and sacrificial animals ahead of the festival. Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga Highway Police, attributed the 35km-long tailback to some unruly motorists "who have scant regard for traffic rules". "The highway police and the district police are working jointly to bring the traffic situation under control.” The tailback triggered jams on many internal roads of the district -- the stretch near Government Shamsul Haque College being one of the worst hit with some motorists trying to use it as an alternative route to reach their destinations. At few other places, jams intensified as few motorists tried to reverse their vehicles to take internal roads to bypass some stretches of the highway. Also read: Mawa-Bhanga expressway witnesses huge traffic snarl on first day of toll collection Unable to bear the sweltering heat, many women got off vehicles with their babies on the highway. Roadside mosques allowed passengers to use their toilets while local residents offered drinking water to the travellers. UNB Sirajganj Correspondent reports: A 15km-long gridlock was seen on the Bangabandhu Bridge Highway at Kaddar intersection, causing immense sufferings to the northern district-bound people a day before Eid. The tailback stretched from Golchattar to Nalka Bridge, forcing vehicles to crawl on the highway. Mosaddek Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge West Police Station, said "the heavy pressure of vehicles and home-bound people are responsible for the tailback". Law enforcers and volunteers have been working on the highway since morning to ease the gridlock, he added. Though the Eid vacation began on Saturday, a large number of people left the capital on Friday itself taking advantage of the long weekend.    

Road accidents during this Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, even though long-haul buses were off the road due to Covid-19 lockdown, said Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Shamiti on Sunday. At least 318 road crashes occurred during May 7- 21 period, the passenger welfare forum revealed while presenting its road accident report-2021 at a press briefing here. The report also said 622 people were injured in road accidents during the period when lakhs of people hit the road to celebrate the Eid festival with their families in village homes. The Eid was celebrated on May 14 during the Covid-19 lockdown. Also read: 249 lives lost on the road during Eid holidays The number of road crashes usually increase as people’s movement surges during such festival.  According to the report, the number of both deaths and accidents on the road increased this year. Due to lockdown, public transports remained suspended, but the holidaymakers packed private cars, microbuses, motorcycles, auto rickshaws, trucks, pick-up vans and covered vans. The report also stated that among the deceased, 35 were women, 22 children, 69 pedestrians and 31 transport workers, and 96 drivers.    Also read: Rab member, another killed in Gazipur road accident According to the report, like other years accidents on motorcycles were at top recording 139 deaths in 144 accidents this year. This accounts for 45.28% of the total accidents and 43.03 % of the total deaths recorded. About 32.28 percent accidents took place in national highways, 40.88 percent in regional highways, 22.32 percent in feeder roads, the report stated analyzing the types of accidents. Members of the road accidents monitoring cell of the forum prepared the report collecting information from widely published and trustworthy national, regional, daily newspapers and online portals in the 15 days. Also read: Rickshaw puller killed in city road crash Of the total accidents 3.14% occurred in Dhaka and 1.25% in Chattogram. The report also mentioned 331 people died and 772 sustained injuries in 322 accidents occurring jointly on the country's road, rail and waterways. “Movement of only 8 to10 percent of the population caused so many accidents and deaths only due to negligence of the concerned authority and organizations liable for road safety,” said Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, general secretary of the Jatri Kalyan Samity. He strongly demanded that the government prioritizes the road safety and take necessary measures. Also read: Road accidents in Bangladesh claim 468 lives in April Public transport expert and director of FBCCI, Abdul Haque said, “transport owners face graft  and suffer a lot when they go to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) for fitness tests or other services”. Thus lead to an increase in the movement of unfit vehicles, he said