SIRAJGANJ, Mar 18: With the holy Eid-ul-Fitr approaching, the pressure of people heading home has increased, leading to a significant rise in vehicle movement on the Jamuna Bridge West Highway compared to normal times.
No traffic jams or slowdowns were observed in the Sirajganj part of the Jamuna Bridge West Highway at the Jamuna Bridge West Roundabout, Kadda Mor, Konabari Mor, Nalka, Hatikumrul Interchange area, and Bhuigati area.
Meanwhile, over 600 police members are on duty at various key points on the highway to ensure a hassle-free Eid journey. Additionally, drones are flying in the sky. Round-the-clock surveillance is being conducted across the entire road using this technology. Special monitoring has been set up at key points. Quick decisions are being made by watching the live footage from the drones, which is playing a major role in keeping traffic flowing normally.
Sumel Ahmed, a passenger in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw, said, after departing from Dhaka, he did not encounter any traffic jams in the Sirajganj section. The road was largely empty; seeing the condition of the road, it did not feel like it was Eid time.
Syed Riaz Uddin, Executive Engineer of the Jamuna Bridge Site Office, said vehicle pressure is increasing ahead of Eid. Since Tuesday dawn, over 2,000 vehicles have been crossing per hour. To manage the extra vehicle pressure, two additional booths have been set up at both ends of the bridge's toll plazas. Tolls are being collected through 18 booths instead of the usual 14. Although vehicle pressure has increased ahead of Eid, round-the-clock monitoring is being done in coordination with all concerned to ensure normal traffic flow at both ends of the Jamuna Bridge, which is why there are no traffic jams.
Md Ismail Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station, informed that vehicle pressure on the highway is increasing with time. However, there are no traffic jams or slowdowns anywhere on the highway in Sirajganj. He further said, about 150 members of the Highway Police are on regular duty. Each of our officers has a body camera.
Saiful Islam Santu, Superintendent of Police in Sirajganj, said to make the Eid journey peaceful for people heading home, over 650 members of the district police are on duty on the highway in three shifts. Besides regular duty, patrol teams, mobile teams and picket teams have been deployed. The Sirajganj District police are on duty vigilantly. So far, no news of any traffic jam has been received.
Mahbubur Rahman, Project Manager of the South Asia Subregional Cooperation (SASEC-2) project, said efforts are being made in coordination with all concerned to eliminate traffic jams on the highway in the Sirajganj section. The work to upgrade the Sirajganj section to four lanes is almost in its final stage. There are currently no major problems on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway on the northern route. All types of construction work on the highway have been temporarily halted to ensure a smooth Eid journey. At the same time, several parts of the service lane at the under-construction Hatikumrul Interchange were opened last Sunday (March 16) so that vehicles can disperse onto different roads before reaching the roundabout. This is why no traffic jams have occurred yet this time.
