When Eid comes, traffic pressure increases on the Bangabandhu Setu West Link Highway in Sirajganj, the gateway to North Bengal. Vehicles of 22 districts of North and South Bengal travel by road through Bangabandhu Bridge and through Sirajganj highway. For the past few years, the development work of the four-lane road on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway in Sirajganj on the west side of the Bangabandhu Bridge is going on. Concerned people fear that the development work will increase the suffering of people returning home during the holy Eid-ul-Fitr holiday this year.
Meanwhile, 14 dangerous and accident-prone places have been identified from Bangabandhu Setu West Bank to Chandaikono. However, these dangerous parts of the highway will be renovated quickly, said the officials.
From the west bank of Bangabandhu Bridge to the Hatikumrul Roundabout area, it can be seen that development work is going on in four lanes of the highway. On both sides of the highway, soil filling is going on with dump trucks. As the development work is going on, there are many potholes on the road and the traffic on the highway has become dangerous. Roads have been detoured in many places. Heavy traffic jams are created on the highway due to increased pressure of cargo trucks at night. Passengers in the passenger transports have to bear extreme suffering due to slow pace of movement, traffic congestions and slow moving cargo vehicles. Meanwhile, the northern lane of the newly constructed Nalka Bridge has been opened, but the Dhaka-facing lane has been closed. Due to the closure of the Dhaka-bound lane, traffic is moving through the dangerous old bridge. Locals are fearing a major accident at any time.
Mahbubur Rahman, project manager of SASEC-2, said, "We have spoken with the Sirajganj District Superintendent of Police. Roads with potholes will be repaired. And new four-lane roads will be opened in Salanga Bazar, Dadpur Bazar, Ghurka Bazar, Bhuigaanti Bazar and Chandaikona Bazar areas by 20 Ramadan.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station Badrul Kabir said, district police and us had two rounds of meetings with the officials of SASEC-2 and the officials of the contractor. 14 vulnerable spots have been identified from Bangabandhu Yamuna Bridge to Chandaikono. Authorities promised to repair them by 20 Ramadan. On the occasion of Eid, our 10 mobile teams will work on highways, 16 picket teams will work at 16 points. In addition, miking and digital signage will be installed. All in all, our total 144 policemen will work on the highway of Sirajganj on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. Sirajganj Traffic Inspector (Administration) Salekuzzaman Khan Salek said that a meeting was held with the SP Sir to keep the highway free of traffic jams on the occasion of Eid. We will have 15 to 18 mobile teams on the highway. However, no decision has been taken so far on how many policemen will work on the highway on the occasion of Eid.
Sirajganj Police Superintendent Ariful Rahman Mondal said that about 14 dangerous places have been identified on the highway. Two days ago I had a meeting with the officials of SASEC-II and the officials of the contracting company. They will refurbish them between 12 and 14 April. In response to the question that how many policemen will work on the highway on the occasion of Eid, he said that since there is still time, this issue has not been discussed yet.