Traffic pressure on northern roads, but no traffic jam

The Eid holidays begin today. A flood of people heading home has been pouring onto the northern highway since Monday night. As a result, the traffic pressure on the Jamuna Bridge West Highway has increased. However, no traffic jams have been reported anywhere. Meanwhile, more than 800 police officers have been deployed by the district and highways for overall security on the highway.

More than 2,000 vehicles are crossing the Jamuna Bridge every hour since early Tuesday morning. In the last 24 hours, about 2.84 crore taka has been collected as toll against the crossing of more than 35,000 vehicles.

On the spot, visiting the Sayedabad, Kaddar intersection and Nalka areas of the Jamuna Bridge West Highway, people from the northern region are returning home to celebrate the holy Eid-ul-Fitr with their relatives. In addition to buses and trucks, thousands of people are going to their destinations in pickups, microbuses, private cars and motorcycles. As a result, the traffic pressure has increased.

Jamuna Bridge Authority sources said that 35,658 vehicles were on the road in the 24 hours till 12 midnight on Monday. Tolls of Tk 28,449,700 were collected. Of this, Tk 14,284,500 was collected against 20,075 vehicles at the eastern toll plaza of the bridge (North Bengal-bound lane).

On the other hand, Tk 14,165,200 was collected against 15,583 vehicles at the western toll plaza.

Jamuna Bridge Authority Executive Engineer Syed Riaz Uddin said that the traffic pressure has increased since late Monday night. More than 2,000 vehicles have been moving every hour since Tuesday morning. To handle the additional traffic pressure, two additional booths have been set up at each end of the bridge's toll plaza. Tolls are being collected through 18 booths instead of the regular 14 booths.

Sirajganj Additional Superintendent of Police Md. Nazran Rouf said that despite the increase in the number of vehicles, they are moving at a normal speed. There is no traffic jam or slowdown anywhere.

Hatikamrul Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Ismail Hossain said that about 150 members of the Highway Police are regularly performing their duties on the highway to ensure a smooth Eid journey. Each of our officers has a body camera.

Sirajganj Police Superintendent Md. Saiful Islam Santu said that more than 650 policemen of the district police have been deployed on the highway in three shifts. Patrol teams, mobile teams and picket teams have been deployed outside regular duty. Sirajganj District Police is performing its duties with caution to ensure a peaceful Eid journey for people heading home.