Stuck at the Mirpur-10 intersection, commuters may wonder why authorities cannot solve the nagging tailback problem here despite knowing the solutions.
A visit there is enough to know why people suffer daily from the gridlock: a mindless competition of buses to get more passengers.
Commuters, locals and even transport workers said that buses on this route partially block the intersection disregarding all traffic rules.
They also blamed the lack of monitoring by the traffic police department, which has its zonal office right in the middle of the intersection.
Sufferers say, during rush hours, the gridlock worsens and tailbacks go up to a quarter kilometre on all four directions the intersection connects.
"I use this road almost every day to drop off and pick up my children from their school at Mirpur 13. Most of the time it takes about 15-20 minutes to cross the intersection by car," said Mehedi Zaman, a resident of Senpara Parbata adjacent to the Mirpur-10 intersection.
"Sometimes, it takes more to cross it," he added.
Surprisingly, Rabbi and Riaz, staffers of two passenger buses that operate on the Pallabi-Jatrabari route, also blamed the unruly bus drivers for the gridlock.
To take in passengers, drivers put their vehicles on the road in such a way that they choke the traffic flow, causing constant tailbacks in all four directions from the intersection, they said.
It happens before the very eyes of traffic police officials, they said.
Although traffic constables and officials are there, for "unknown reasons" they turn a blind eye to the rules violations by these bus drivers, they added.
If the traffic police officials played a more active role, the congestion would have been eased, said Mehedi Zaman and Abdullah Al Mamun, residents of the Senpara area.
And our correspondent found their concerns to be true. During a visit, this correspondent found the busy intersection jam-free around 2:00pm on Monday. No buses were allowed to stop at the entry or exit points of the intersection.
The reason for this anomaly became clear a few minutes later when Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman passed through the roundabout in his official vehicle.
Traffic Inspector Bimol Saha however denied special measures for the jam-free road on that occasion.
The intersection was free of tailbacks as it was 2:00pm which is not a busy hour, he added.
He, however, denied the allegations that on-duty traffic officials are not doing enough to ensure the free flow of vehicles.
Asked about random bus parking in front of the Mirpur BRTA, he said they regularly take action against those who park vehicles there.
Explaining the constant gridlock, he said thousands of commuters come to Mirpur-10 to catch buses and to avail metro rail service. Buses of 21 routes pass through the intersection.
Moreover, there is no active bus bay for picking up and dropping off passengers. Jaywalking and operation of rickshaws in the area also contribute to the gridlock, he added.
Locals also said they faced less congestion when the busy intersection was off-limit to rickshaws and rickshaw vans.
Mohammad Sagar, a driver of a bus that plies on the Pallabi-Motijheel route, refuted the allegation against bus drivers claiming that they stop buses at the side of footpaths.
Instead, he blamed the congestion on pedestrians.
"Thousands of people cross the busy road on foot despite using the over bridge making it difficult for vehicles to cross the intersection," he said.
Md Jashim Uddin, deputy commissioner (Traffic) of Mirpur Division, however, blamed all vehicles as well as pedestrians for the problem.
"When buses, CNG, rickshaws and other vehicles get a chance, they block the exit points causing the traffic jam," he said.
"The situation has improved recently. We are taking measures," he told The Daily Star.
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