Clashes in the New Market area of the capital have caused severe suffering to the city dwellers. There was unbearable traffic jam in the alleys including the main road of the city. It takes one and a half to two times longer than usual for many to reach their destination. Many have reached their destination on foot. Again someone got upset and went back home.
Shopkeepers, workers and hawkers clashed with students of Dhaka College in New Market area from Tuesday morning. The New Market-adjacent Mirpur road remained closed for most of the day, causing heavy traffic on other roads. The traffic was heaviest on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.
The traffic was light at this time of night. Hundreds of people were seen walking to reach their destination at that time. Passengers were seen stuck on the road even during Iftar.
There was heavy traffic in and around Farmgate around 1:30 p.m. At this time Akkas Ali was stuck in front of the farm house. He said he worked in a madrasa in Gabtali area. He got on a bus from Gabtali to go to Paltan for Madrasa work at around 10:30 am. After coming some distance he got stuck in traffic. In about three hours he was able to reach the farm house. Farzana Neela, a job seeker, started her journey from Taj Mahal Road in Mohammadpur towards Nilkhet around 11:15 pm. On the way to the CNG-powered autorickshaw, he got stuck in a traffic jam at Jigatala. He found out that the traffic on Mirpur Road was closed. Later, he returned home at half past one. Farzana said she was going to get a certificate from the college to go out to study.
As the Mirpur road was closed, the traffic on the alternative road increased. At one stage, traffic jams also occurred in alleys. Traffic jams were also seen in the streets of Kalyanpur, Mohammadpur, Asadgate and other areas at noon. Abdul Hamid, a resident of Mohammadia Housing Limited area in Mohammadpur, said he had never seen such a traffic jam in the alley before. It took him about two hours to reach Karwan Bazar on a motorcycle from Mohammadpur.
All vehicles on Mirpur Road are plying on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. This naturally increased the traffic pressure on this road.
Matiur Rahman, Sergeant, Traffic Police
At around 3 pm, he talked to Traffic Police Sergeant Matiur Rahman at the Sonargaon intersection. He told Prothom Alo that all vehicles on Mirpur Road are now plying on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. This naturally increased the traffic pressure on this road.
At around 3:30 in the afternoon, I talked to the motorcyclist Shahid Uddin. He has come from the platoon, will go to Uttara. He said he did not get much traffic jam from Paltan to Shahbag. However, there is a huge traffic jam from Shahbag to Sonargaon junction. Due to unbearable traffic jam, a friend who was with him got down from the motorcycle and walked to Panthapath area. At that time a BRTC bus was stuck in a traffic jam at Panthapath section of Sonargaon junction. The driver of the bus, Al-Amin , told Prothom Alo that he took the bus from BRTC’s Kalyanpur depot and left at around 2 pm. It took about an hour and a half to reach Panthapath. He will travel to Savar with the staff of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited. Later in the evening, Al-Amin told Prothom Alo on his mobile phone that he had reached Savar around 5 pm. There was not much traffic jam after Gabtali. But it took a long time to reach Dhanmondi No. 27 from Panthapath.
