Dhaka's high cost of living prevents these people from moving to Dhaka permanently, especially with their families. Be it living in a shared house or getting a small apartment, the cost of living in the city is significantly higher than living in Gazipur, for instance. Even if it means travelling to the city every day for work.

Rizwan Ahmed, a travel agent with an office in Motijheel, makes his daily commute from Gazipur.

"I actually lived in Dhaka with my family in a rented home for some time, but it was far from my office; the traffic jam made matters worse and the higher cost of living was not giving me any respite. So, I moved back to my home in Gazipur town and while the bus journey every day is anything but smooth the monthly expenditure is significantly less," he said.

Another important reason why people opt to make the commute instead of living in Dhaka is their preference to live in their locality surrounded by family and friends. It can be incredibly difficult to come and live in a new place and miss the sense of belonging and attachment that one feels with their hometown.

Sahana Parvin, a resident of Narayanganj, completed her graduation from a private university in Dhanmondi.

She said, "Coming from Narayanganj, I have spent a lot of time on the road. Often the long hours on buses took its toll on me but as soon as I went back home and was surrounded by my friends and family, I felt like all the fatigue went away in an instant".

In the local context, covering the distance between let's say Dhaka and Narayanganj of around 30km sounds like a daunting task. In most developed countries, however, this is not much of an issue as highly developed infrastructures make it convenient to commute even longer distances.

With the recent inauguration of the Metro Rail and projects like the expressways, people can also harbour a hope of living a life where they do not necessarily have to live in the same place for accommodation and work.

"My hometown is in Munshiganj and I like the quaint setting of the place. I have this dream of coming to work every day from there in my car and then going back the same day. I have seen how the roads have been developed in the last few years so who knows maybe this will happen sooner than I think!" remarked Hashem Ali, a lecturer at a private university.

However, until that is happening a large number of people will have to undertake the "great commute" and continue to endure a lot of problems.