Nursing college students block Shahbagh, causing severe traffic congestion

The Nursing College students have blocked the Shagbagh Intersection to press home their demand to recognise Diploma in Nursing and Diploma in Midwifery as honour’s degrees.

They blocked the Shahbagh intersection after 2:00 pm today, Wednesday snapping traffic movement in the area completely.

Before that, the students of Jagannath University blocked the road in front of the Kakrail Mosque to press home their three-point-demand.

The blockades create severe traffic congestion in Shahbagh, Matsya Bhaban, Kakrail, Karwan Bazar, Farmgate and adjacent areas. The nursing college students were still blocking the road at the time of filing this report at 6:00 pm.

Nursing College students say they held a rally in front of the Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council. There they set an ultimatum to meet their one-point demand. After an hour, they moved towards the Shahbagh and blocked the intersection as they did not get any assurance.

Traffic police assistant commissioner (AC) in Ramna Division, Abdul Hannan, told Prothom Alo that traffic movement through the Shahbag and Kakrail intersections have been disrupted completely. The vehicles bound to these two areas had to take alternative routes. As a result, the pressure of vehicles is being mounted in the areas adjacent to Shahbagh and Kakrail areas creating severe traffic jams.

The congestion has extended to Bangla Motor, Karwan Bazar and Farmgate.

Passengers had to wait at the Khamarbari intersection signal for a long time to reach Farmgate via Manik Mia Avenue around 4:00 pm. Even then, cars moved slowly. The situation remained the same in the evening.