17km tailback on Dhaka-Tangail highway

Staff Correspondent:

Heavy congestion was reported on the Tangail section of the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway on Sunday due to a surge in traffic volume and several vehicle breakdowns, resulting in a 17km tailback.

The situation was further aggravated by multiple road accidents on the bridge, leading to prolonged delays.

The congestion was observed from the Jamuna Bridge to the Pungli area on Sunday morning, causing significant hardship for commuters.

Police personnel have been deployed at various points to ease the situation.

According to the Jamuna Bridge authorities and police, traffic pressure on the highway has been increasing over the past two days.

Additionally, between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, six vehicles broke down on the Jamuna Bridge and it took considerable time to remove them from the road.

Moreover, around 7am on Sunday, four separate road accidents occurred on the bridge simultaneously, leading to multiple suspensions in toll collection.

These incidents significantly disrupted the flow of traffic and it took time to clear the affected vehicles.

On-site observation revealed that while southbound traffic towards Dhaka remained normal, northbound vehicles were moving slowly.

Md Ahsanul Kabir Pavel, executive engineer of the Jamuna Bridge Site Office, said that both vehicle breakdowns and road accidents on the bridge had disrupted traffic flow.

He also noted that vehicles were moving at a slow pace.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Sharif, in-charge of the Elenga Highway Police Outpost, said that police personnel were working tirelessly to resolve the congestion and expressed hope that traffic would return to normal soon.

Notably, similar disruptions occurred throughout Saturday as well, with traffic congestion reported on both ends of the bridge.

The traffic jam stretched approximately 17km from the Jamuna Bridge to the Pungli area in Tangail.

At one point, northbound traffic faced a gridlock extending nearly 30km.