A severe traffic congestion has developed on the Dhaka-bound lane of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, stretching from Daudkandi in Cumilla to the Meghna Toll Plaza, due to repair work on the Ashariarchar Bridge in Sonargaon, Narayanganj.

A long queue of vehicles was seen from the Meghna Toll Plaza to Daudkandi from last night through this morning. Passengers were stranded on the highway for hours.

Shafiul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kanchpur Highway Police Station, confirmed the matter and said the Roads and Highways Department was carrying out emergency repair work on one of the two lanes of the highway in the Ashariarchar area.

“As one lane has been closed for the repair work, vehicles are being allowed to pass through the other lane alternately. This has caused temporary congestion,” he said, adding that the intensity of the traffic jam had eased by this morning.

Photo: Star

A visit to the area this morning found a long queue of vehicles on the Dhaka-bound lane from the Ashariarchar Bridge towards Daudkandi. While vehicles were moving very slowly in some places, traffic was almost at a standstill in most sections.

Thousands of passengers suffered as the congestion spread across different points of the highway between Daudkandi and the Meghna Toll Plaza.

According to Roads and Highways Department sources, a large pothole had developed on a section of the Dhaka-bound lane of the Ashariarchar Bridge. As it continued to grow and posed a risk of accidents, the department began repair work around 11:00am yesterday.

During the repair work, one of the two lanes was closed and vehicles were allowed to use the other lane. As traffic pressure increased, the situation turned into a long tailback.

The situation worsened at night as a large number of vehicles attempted to pass through the single operational lane.

Several drivers stranded in the tailback said vehicle movement slowed to a crawl after reaching the bridge area. Many vehicles remained stuck in the same spot for hours, causing severe suffering to truck drivers and long-distance passengers.

A bus passenger named Zahir, who was stranded at the toll plaza, said, “We have been stuck here for hours. We do not even know why the traffic jam is this severe.”

Meanwhile, the congestion that began around Meghna last night spread to several parts of the Cumilla section of the highway, including Eliotganj, Madhaiya and Chandina.

Hossain, another passenger, said he had been stuck in Chandina for about one and a half hours.

“I boarded a vehicle from Cumilla at 8:00am, but I still have not been able to cross Chandina,” he said around 10:00am.

Prem Das Roy, officer-in-charge of Daudkandi Highway Police Station, said the main reason for the congestion between Daudkandi and the Meghna Toll Plaza was the road repair work at the Ashariarchar Bridge.

“As a result, the pressure of Dhaka-bound vehicles has increased,” he said.

He added that several teams of highway police were working continuously on the ground to ease traffic movement and control the congestion.

Several posts in the Facebook group “Traffic Alert” said commuters were stuck for around three hours, with traffic moving only inch by inch at some spots.

Many said the journey took nearly twice as long as usual. Families travelling with children also faced a tough time amid the traffic congestion and hot weather, posts said.