Gazipur gridlocked amid pandemic

Commuters heading home ahead of Eid-ul-Azha were stuck in monster traffic snarls on Gazipur highways on Tuesday.

Gazipur, July 20 : Commuters heading home ahead of Eid-ul-Azha were stuck in monster traffic snarls on the two national highways in Gazipur on Tuesday.

Long tailbacks were witnessed on both the Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways in Gazipur in the morning due to a mad rush of home-bound people as well as vehicles carrying sacrificial animals amid the devastating second wave of Covid-19.

The closure of several garment factories in Gazipur for Eid contributed to the mad rush while the potholed stretches of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway owing to the under-construction Bus Rapid Transit project made the situation worse.

Moreover, lack of public transport vehicles like buses and launches forced many to hire microbuses, CNG auto-rickshaws and even pickup trucks to reach their destination.

A reality check by UNB revealed that all Covid-safety protocols went for a toss as people barely followed social distancing norms, despite law enforcement agencies keeping a strict vigil on the roads.

Bangladesh on Monday saw 231 corona-related deaths, the highest since the pandemic hit the country, amid an eight-day pause in the nationwide strict lockdown.

The situation is likely to get worse because of the fallout from the lockdown pause ahead of Eid holidays, many experts believe.

With Covid's Delta variant spreading fast, Bangladesh have already tallied more than 1.1 million infections and 18,000-plus deaths from the pandemic. The country's fatalities have been hovering at roughly 200 for the past two weeks.

Also, Covid-19 infections in Bangladesh have reached 99% of the peak, with more than 11,828 new cases reported each day. The highest daily average was reported on July 15.

The country recorded 13,321 infections in 24 hours till Monday morning after testing 45,012 samples, reports UNB.