Dhaka-Sylhet highway gridlock: Adviser Fouzul Kabir switches to motorcycle during inspection
The adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, was caught in severe traffic congestion while on his way to inspect the dilapidated condition and gridlock situation on the Dhaka–Sylhet Highway.
His destination was the Bishwaroad intersection in Sarail upazila of Brahmanbaria at around 10:30 am on Wednesday.
Earlier in the morning, Fouzul Kabir Khan arrived at Bhairab Railway Station by the Mahanagar Express train bound for Chattogram. From there, he set off by road for Sarail’s Bishwaroad. He reached Ashuganj at 10:35 am but remained stuck in traffic in the Sonarampur area until around 12:00 pm.
Eventually, at Bahadurpur, the adviser got out of his car and continued towards Bishwaroad on a motorcycle.
Speaking to newspersons, he said he was determined to “see for himself where the problems lie and ensure they are resolved.”
The adviser was accompanied by Brahmanbaria deputy commissioner Mohammad Didarul Alam, superintendent of police Ehteshamul Haque, and officials from the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).
At the Bishwaroad intersection, Sarail upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Mosharraf Hossain and highway police superintendent Shahinur Alam were waiting for him.
According to the RHD offices in Brahmanbaria and Cumilla, as well as local sources, the government had decided to take immediate action after several media reports highlighted severe congestion along the Brahmanbaria stretch of the highway.
Consequently, the RHD began road repair work in the Bishwaroad roundabout area from Saturday afternoon. The work involves a three-layer brick-laying process: 12 metres wide and 185 metres long at the roundabout, and 190 metres long and 10.3 metres wide from the roundabout to Sarai Kutttapara playground on the Sylhet-bound lane.
Bricks produced by automated kilns from Dhaka, Cumilla, Munshiganj, and Brahmanbaria are being used, with a total of 400,000 bricks to be laid.
The work has been ongoing in phases — from Saturday afternoon to 2:00 am Sunday, from 12:30 pm to 10:30 pm on Monday, and from morning till late night on Tuesday.
On-site visits and discussions with RHD officials revealed that various government departments had set a 72-hour deadline for effective measures to ease congestion at the Bishwaroad section, which expired Tuesday afternoon. The road repairs were supposed to be completed by that time. However, as of 5:30 pm Tuesday, only about 30 per cent of the repair work had been visibly completed.
Meanwhile, the repair work itself triggered further traffic chaos. As soon as work began on Saturday afternoon, long tailbacks developed along the Brahmanbaria stretch of the highway. Due to poor coordination and slow progress, both traffic congestion and public suffering have worsened.
The jam, which started on Saturday afternoon, still persists. For the past four days, a continuous gridlock has stretched along 34 kilometres, from Ashuganj roundabout in Brahmanbaria to Madhabpur in Habiganj. As of this morning, Wednesday, traffic gridlock remained along the route.
Sarail UNO Mosharraf Hossain said, “Since morning, the highway has been suffering from severe congestion. Members of the army, police, and other law enforcement agencies are working to bring the situation under control.”