Mirsarai Correspondent: There was a traffic jam in the Chittagong-bound lane in the Mirsarai Sadar area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway last week. Sometimes this traffic jam is seen to be 2-3 km long and sometimes 5-7 km long. This traffic jam is caused by the installation of gas line pipe on the main lane of the highway. This is increasing the suffering of local pedestrians along with thousands of vehicles every day. The Mirsarai Paur Sadar section of the Chittagong-bound lane of the highway is narrow. In other wide sections of the highway, gas pipelines are laid either through the sloped part of the roadside or some distance away or through alternative places. But there is no additional parking space in this narrow part of Mirsarai Sadar. Still, work continued throughout the week, piling soil and concrete along the narrow lanes.
A bus passenger said, I boarded the bus from Mitachara Market at 11 a.m. on Thursday. There was a meeting in Chittagong. It took 2 hours to cover 3 km to Mirsarai Sadar. Besides, it took 5 hours to reach the city due to the traffic jam in several other places. The bus driver said that he had to sit for an hour on average in the daily traffic jam at Mirsarai Sadar for several days. Children and women passengers suffer more.
It should be noted that the traffic congestion was high from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from November 3 to November 7. At this time there is more traffic towards the city. Residents complain that there are not enough volunteers or linemen, and signal systems are not enough to resolve the traffic jam.
Al Amin, the site engineer of Dipan Gas, the contractor company involved in the construction of pipelines on the highway, said, “We are working here with all kinds of approval and permission from the road department. We are trying to keep the road normal. But the traffic congestion is increasing as the vehicles are breaking the rules and stopping on the narrow roads instead of the designated places.
Pintu Chakma, Executive Engineer of Chittagong Division of Roads and Public Ways, said, “I was aware of the disruption on the road, especially during office hours when there is an increase in traffic.” Necessary measures will be taken in this regard from now on. I hope the common people and vehicles will not have to suffer any more this week.
