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Accidents on the Bangabandhu Bridge, coupled with the breakdown of a vehicle on the highway and disruptions in toll collections, have snarled northbound traffic on the Dhaka-Tangail highway on the first day of the Eid-ul-Azha vacation.
An 8-km tailback has formed east of the bridge, stretching all the way to Hatia in Tangail's Kalihati Upazila on Tuesday, according to Zahid Hasan, chief of Elenga Highway Police Station. Traffic has been trudging along since the morning, much to the dismay of homebound holidaymakers.
With the Eid festival of sacrifice set to be marked on Jun 29, a four-day holiday was originally slated to begin on Wednesday. But the government later declared Jun 27 a special holiday, extending the vacation by another day, reports bdnews24.com.
As a result, the rush of Eid holidaymakers was underway soon after offices closed on Monday.
Although the first part of the night went without any hitches, there were two collisions and one car breakdown on Bangabandhu Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday, said OC Zahid.
Consequently, the bridge authorities stopped collecting tolls for around 10-12 minutes after 3:00 am, followed by an almost hour-long pause around 4:00 am and again from 5:30-5:45 am.
The stoppages meant that the northbound highway was overflowing with vehicles.
“We are doing our job. The flow of traffic has gradually resumed. Hopefully, it will be back to normal soon."
The 70-km road from Gazipur's Joydebpur to Elenga in Tangail's Kalihati Upazila has four lanes. But, the 13 km road from Elenga to the eastern end of the Bangabandhu Bridge narrows to two lanes, making it susceptible to traffic congestion during the Eid exodus.
On one side of the four-lane highway, there are daily hold-ups in traffic when cars converge from two lanes to one. If traffic increased during the Eid rush on Tuesday, it could lead to major traffic jams.
And, if a vehicle breaks down on the single-lane road, removing it will be a challenge.
Police are also worried about the five cattle markets on the 27-km road from Bangabandhu Bridge to Elenga.
The pressure of vehicles is typically higher during Eid-ul-Azha, compared to Eid-ul-Fitr, as more people travel back and forth between their village homes and the city. Trucks loaded with sacrificial animals also stream out of the rural parts. As a result, traffic snarl-ups occur on all sides of the major intersections.
Despite the ban, several large cattle markets have cropped up on either side of the highway. The unloading of animals from trucks there creates traffic chaos.
“Smooth journeys were ensured last Eid. But this time, some new concerns have arisen. If the pressure of traffic to the north increases, Dhaka-bound vehicles will come to Elenga via the circle on the eastern side of the Bangabandhu Bridge," said Sarker Md Kaiser, Tangail's superintendent of police.
“There are five animal markets on this 27 km road. There are fears of traffic congestion in the market areas. The market committees and police are responsible for helping traffic move along in these areas."
Typically, around 16,000-17,000 vehicles cross the Bangabandhu Bridge every day, according to Ahsanul Kabir Pavel, the site office's executive engineer. But the figure has now jumped to around 28,000-30,000, he said.