Dhaka commuters have been facing severe disruptions due to traffic jam for the last few days. Huge pressure of vehicles, road digging, traffic jam adjacent to offices, school and colleges have become the constant companions of the city people.
Huge traffic jams can be noticed in front of the schools and colleges, specially from the Azimpur Old Graveyard to Azimpur Bus Stand area due to excessive pressure of vehicles and road digging.
After a long Eid holiday, schools and colleges have reopened. As Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (Azimpur branch), Azimpur School and college, Agrani School and College, and Eden Mohila College are located in the area, hundreds of students and parents go there every day.
Traffic jams have been noticed on the roads adjacent to the schools and colleges in Azimpur area due to a large number of rickshaws and private cars. Buses and minibuses are often parked here and there.
One of the parents of a Viqarunnisa Noon School student, expressed her displeasure and said, “I go to school with my daughter at 6:30am. I often walk on the road
due to traffic jam in the morning. After several hours’ shift, I have to come back and rush for coaching classes. Due to traffic congestion, the rickshaw fare has doubled. In such a situation, my daily life has become very pathetic. After classes, my daughter also returns home being very tired.”
From the morning, buses, microbuses, jeeps, pickups, motorcycles, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, human haulers, battery-run rickshaws and many other vehicles jam various roads in the capital. Many passengers get off the vehicles and walk as the vehicles remain stuck for hours. Older people, women, children and patients face many problems due to the traffic jam.
A private sector service holder, resident of Azimpur area, said, “I often walk to my office as the vehicles run at a snail’s pace during the peak hours. It takes more than a couple of hours to go to Motijheel from Azimpur on weekdays.”
Traffic policemen pass busy time managing the vehicles. The huge pressure of vehicles, impatient driving, jaywalking and so on are mainly responsible for traffic jams and road accidents.
Talking to Bangladesh Post, the on-duty traffic officer (on condition of anonymity), said that none has patience. Everyone wants to go first. He said drivers are largely responsible for traffic jams on the city roads. They all want to overtake other vehicles at any cost and move forward.
