Commuters bear the brunt across Dhaka city

City dwellers yesterday suffered due to a shortage of public transport and traffic restrictions imposed on different roads centering on the rally in the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan to express gratitude over recognition of top Qawmi degree.

Commuters were seen passing through Shahbagh intersection to Matsya Bhaban, Katabon, Nilkhet and Palashi on foot to reach their destinations.

Many of them were seen waiting for public transport for a long time. Many patients coming out of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were forced to walk.

“This is immensely inconvenient. How long do I have to wait for a Savar-bound bus?” said Panna Begum, who along with her ailing mother Abeda, 65, was waiting for a bus in front of BSMMU for over an hour.

As Abeda could not walk, a policeman later managed a rickshaw to drop them at Paribagh or Bangla Motor so that they could catch a Savar-bound bus.

The photo shows that no public transports, except private car, rickshaw and CNG-run-auto-rickshaw were seen plying in Shahbagh intersection as the DMP has asked all heavy and light vehicles to avoid the Suhrawardy Udyan area and adjacent places on Sunday, 04 November 2018. Photo: Prabir Das/Star

It took more than two and a half hours for lawyer Abu Bakar to reach Dhaka Judge's Court, despite starting at 7:10am from Mirpur, as the bus was stuck in a traffic jam caused by diversion in the nearby road of Suhrawardy Udyan. 

“Normally it takes one hour,” he said.

“It was hard to catch a direct bus from Kalyanpur to Jatiya Press Club. I changed two buses because of the heavy traffic and finally used Pathao service to reach my destination. I had to spend Tk 125 in total,” said Sujan Ahmed, a private service holder. Al-Hiyatul Ulya Lil-Zami'atil Qawmiya Bangladesh, a combine of Qawmi education boards led by Hefajat-e Islam chief Shah Ahmed Shafi, organised a “Shokrana Mahfil” (thanksgiving rally) to hail the passage of a bill making the Dawra-e-Hadith degree equivalent to master's in Islamic Studies and Arabic.

Meanwhile, the traffic diversion made by DMP created huge traffic congestion in some areas including Mirpur Road, Moghbazar, Kakrail, Paltan and Motijheel intersection.

Apart from public transport, cars on the streets were fewer than that on usual days.

City dwellers have been suffering due to a shortage of public transport and traffic restrictions imposed on different roads as a Qawmi madrasa platform organised a rally in Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Udyan on November 4, 2018.The photo shows that Ripon, who came to the BSSMU for the treatment of his four-month child, has been waiting for bus for hour at Shahbagh to go to Gauchhia in Narayanganj. Photo: Prabir Das/Star