15km traffic jam on Dhaka-Chattogram highway, commuters suffer

Commuters have been enduring severe suffering due to a long tailback on the Cumilla section of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. Since Tuesday morning, vehicles on the Chattogram-bound lane have been moving at a snail's pace from Amtali to Chandina, a stretch of around 15 kilometres. As a result, passengers travelling to Chattogram from Dhaka and other areas have been stuck on the road for hours.

Local sources said that traffic movement has been disrupted due to several large potholes on the Chattogram-bound section of the highway in the Amtali area. A stretch of about half a kilometre is riddled with uneven patches, causing vehicles to slow down significantly upon reaching the area. This eventually led to vehicles behind getting stuck, creating a long tailback.

The situation worsened when some vehicles started moving in the opposite direction to avoid the congestion. This caused the gridlock to spread to the Dhaka-bound lane as well in several places, forcing vehicles on both sides to move at a crawl.

Passengers and drivers have complained that the road condition in the Amtali area has been a long-standing problem. While the Roads and Highways Department had carried out temporary repairs earlier, a permanent solution has not been implemented. As a result, new potholes have formed in various sections of the road after rainfall. A driver of a Dhaka-bound bus from Feni said it took nearly three hours to cover the 15km from Chandina to Amtali.

Highway Police Cumilla Region Superintendent Shahinur Islam said there are potholes on both sides of the highway in the Amtali area. While some repairs were carried out on the Dhaka-bound side recently, large potholes have formed on the Chattogram-bound side. Highway Police have been working at the scene since morning to ease the congestion and restore normal traffic flow.

Khandaker Golam Mostafa, Executive Engineer of Cumilla Roads and Highways Department, said temporary repairs have been carried out on the Dhaka-bound lane in the Amtali area. Repair work is now commencing on the Chattogram-bound lane as well. The authorities hope that the traffic situation will improve if the damaged sections of the road can be repaired quickly.