Traffic congestion on highways feared to delay schedules of north-bound buses

Buses travelling between Dhaka and northern districts might face delays returning to Dhaka due to congestion on the highways, said the Kalyanpur bus counter officials, expressing concern about maintaining the afternoon departure schedules for the buses. 

“We have been able to operate the vehicles as per the schedule by far. In some cases, there was an delay of up to half an hour,” said Saiful Islam, counter master of Nabil Paribahan. 

“However, there have been reports of congestion in various spots on the highway, which could delay the buses returning to the city. There might be a delay of one or two hours after noon,” he said.

Despite the fear of delay, passengers were seen arriving at the bus terminals well before the scheduled departure time mentioned in their tickets, hoping that the buses would leave the station on time.

“My bus was at 12:45pm, but I came to the counter early. I arrived at the counter about an hour ago. So far, I see that the vehicles have departed on time. I hope we won’t have to face any delay as well,” said Shahabuddin, a passenger waiting at the Kallayanpur bus terminal in the capital. 

“There’s nothing we can do if it’s delayed though. We have to have go home for Eid. We suffer every year. You could say we have become accustomed to it,” he added. 

Meanwhile, homegoers using the Gulistan and Sayedabad routes said it took them hours to just get out of Dhaka. 

“I was stuck in a traffic jam for two and a half hours from Badda to Sayedabad. There was also severe traffic congestion from Hanif Flyover down to Postogola Bridge,” said Nahid, a private job holder going to Barishal to celebrate Eid with family. 

He also said a cattle market, set up on the footpath next to Kamalapur Stadium which is well beyond the area designated by the city corporation, has added to the traffic woes. 

“Due to this, pedestrians were forced to walk on the road, causing further issues with vehicular movement,” he observed.