Commuters experienced an unprecedented traffic jam in Dhaka city on Wednesday with sweltering heat making life unbearable.
Add to that the road blockade in Nilkhet by students of seven colleges made the city a living hell for office goers and commuters.
Despite stern actions against wrong-side driving, traffic congestion in Dhaka continues to aggravate causing serious sufferings to city commuters.
Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on the Mirpur-Kalayanpur Road at around 1:45 am, said Ramjan Ali, a commuter.
Locals said office goers, businessmen, patients and students of the overcrowded city are the worst suffers from the gridlocks.
Numerous efforts and initiatives taken by the government have failed to bring back traffic control on streets.
Long tailbacks make commuting in the city a nightmare. The chaotic traffic situation has somewhat become Dhaka's 'identity' as one cannot talk about the city without mentioning the paralysing traffic congestion.
The traffic rules awareness campaigns fell on deaf ears. Breaking the law in the streets of Dhaka appeared to have become a norm, as everyone - from drivers to pedestrians - violates traffic regulations.
Indiscriminate road digging, slow-moving rickshaws, crowds of shoppers and excessive vehicular movement also contribute to the severe traffic jams.
Besides, the ongoing work on setting up metro-rail lines from Agargaon to Mirpur-10 has made busy thoroughfares narrow and intensified the misery, many said.
From the main thoroughfares to narrow lanes and by-lanes everywhere, streets were found gridlocked on Wednesday.
Many passengers are found getting off vehicles after they got stuck in the traffic jams. Many are seen walking to their destinations.
Most of the areas including the National Press Club, Gulistan, Mirpur, Shyamoli, Kalyanpur, Azimpur, Farmgate, Jatrabari, Mouchak, Rampura, Badda, Gulshan, Narda, Uttara, Airport road, Bannai, Gulshan and Motijheel are found gridlocked.
Recently, a high police officer has said additional measures would be taken to control the traffic system in the city. But no measures were found yet.
A high official of traffic police told The Daily Observer on Wednesday that if anyone of the roads in Dhaka city is blocked it has a domino effect on other roads.
"We are working hard to ease the traffic congestions," he added.
