Wednesday 12 February 2025
           
Wednesday 12 February 2025
       
It takes 2 hours to cross 10-minute Hanif flyover
Farhad Chowdhury
Publish: Thursday, 17 October, 2024, 12:19 PM
The road to Gulistan end the Mayor Hanif flyover has become a living nightmare for those who have to use it every day. Traffic jams are a common occurrence there, the picture was taken from the Joykali Mandir area at noon

The road to Gulistan end the Mayor Hanif flyover has become a living nightmare for those who have to use it every day. Traffic jams are a common occurrence there, the picture was taken from the Joykali Mandir area at noon

Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover was launched in October 2013 to facilitate the transportation system of 30 eastern and north-eastern districts including Chittagong, Sylhet with capital Dhaka. The flyover, which is about 11.5 km long, has been completed from Shanir Akhra to Chankharpool via Jatrabari, Syedabad, Gulistan.
In the beginning, only the people of the eastern districts including Chittagong, Sylhet traveled through the flyover, but after the inauguration of the Padma bridge, the common people of the southwestern region including Khulna-Barisal started traveling using the flyover. As a result, the pressure of vehicles on the flyover also started to increase with time.
Thousands of Dhaka-bound vehicles enter this flyover through four points every day. These are Shanir Akhra, Demra, Syedabad and Dholaipard. Transport from various districts of Chittagong including Narayanganj, Munshiganj, private vehicles enter Hanif flyover through Shanir Akhara point. Transport and passengers from Sylhet and North Eastern districts enter the flyover through Demra Toll Plaza. Vehicles from southwest region including Barisal and Khulna take the flyover through Dholaipar point. Apart from this, cars from different regions are constantly going up and down from Sayedabad using this flyover
Thousands of Dhaka-bound vehicles enter this flyover through four points every day. These are Shanir Akhra, Demra, Syedabad and Dholaipard. Transport from various districts of Chittagong including Narayanganj, Munshiganj, private vehicles enter Hanif flyover through Shanir Akhara point. Transport and passengers from Sylhet and North Eastern districts enter the flyover through Demra Toll Plaza. Vehicles from southwest region including Barisal and Khulna take the flyover through Dholaipar point. Apart from this, cars from different regions are constantly going up and down from Sayedabad using this flyover.
On the surface, the number of vehicles entering the Hanif flyover is very fragile! More than 100 vehicles enter this flyover every minute, but not even half of them can exit. As a result, severe traffic jams are gradually created. Which once spread over the entire flyover. Ordinary passengers have to get stuck in traffic for hours.
Congestion at exit point is one of the causes of traffic congestion.
There is always a traffic jam on the Dhaka side of the Hanif flyover. One of the reasons for this is the fragile image of Gulistan and Chankharpul, the two main points where vehicles exit the flyover! Common passengers enter Dhaka through these two toll plazas.
There is always a ‘congestion’ of vehicles at the entrance of Gulistan, which has only two lanes, and Chankharpool, which has one lane. That is why the vehicles are moving at the speed of a turtle in front of the toll plaza.
Vehicles going to Kamalapur, Syedabad, Malibagh, Rampura via Golapbagh of Hanif flyover. Even going down to Golapbagh, you have to get stuck in traffic every day. It has been seen on the ground that before getting off the flyover, the buses stop and get off the passengers. As a result, the cars behind get stuck. Apart from this, long-distance buses alight from the flyover and alight at the Syedabad counter. There is also a traffic jam due to the time it takes to disembark the passengers.
The buses run in a kind of free-style through the flyover. After evening, the long-distance transports make a ‘stop’ at Sayedabad section to pick up and drop passengers. On the other hand, local buses ply throughout the day at Rajdhani Market, Syedabad and Jatrabari points of the flyover.
Local bus stop in front of the Gulistan Toll Plaza exit of the flyover. Buses get off the flyover and take U-turn from in front of the toll plaza. As a result, passengers have to get into a long traffic jam to get off the flyover in this section.
Apart from this, vehicles have to gain a lot of speed to get off the flyover in busy areas like Gulistan. There is a lot of pressure from common people, footpaths and market people. The road is narrowed and the vehicles have to move in one lane. As the cars move at the speed of a turtle, at one stage there is a long traffic jam.
The situation at the Dhaka Medical end of the flyover is even worse. There is a long traffic jam day and night. Since Gulistan is a one-lane highway, one car is stuck behind the other. The traffic police had to stop the cars on the flyover for a long time as the vehicles of different areas including Old Dhaka were moving through Chankharpool. As a result, the traffic jam on the flyover increased.
A ‘great danger’ if a vehicle stuck up
Since there is only one lane of traffic on the flyover from Gulistan to Dhaka Medical End, sometimes there is a ‘terrible’ traffic jam in the entire flyover when a vehicle breaks down or gets stuck. As there is only one lane, there is no way to move the vehicle. Until the vehicle can be moved, one lane should be used for two-way traffic.
Meanwhile, the impact of the immobilized vehicles on the flyover spread to the surrounding roads. It can be seen on the ground that if any car breaks down on Udal Road, a long traffic jam is created in Chankharpool, Bangabazar, Dhaka Medical Road, Bakshi Bazar Road. During this time, no vehicle can enter or exit the flyover.
Traffic congestion due to various reasons
Those concerned say that long queues of vehicles are formed due to slow toll collection at toll plazas. It is also seen that a line of vehicles has gone up to Syedabad. Even after paying the toll, the cars are getting stuck in the traffic at Gulistan point. As a result, the cars behind are unable to leave the runway.
Apart from this, the buses run in a kind of free-style through the flyover. After evening, the long-distance transports make a ‘stop’ at Sayedabad section to pick up and drop passengers. On the other hand, local buses ply throughout the day at Rajdhani Market, Syedabad and Jatrabari points of the flyover.
Passengers also face traffic jams at the entrance of Shanir Akhra section of the flyover. One of the reasons for this is the boarding and alighting of passengers in public transport and long-distance buses. Especially from 8 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to midnight this traffic jam exceeds three to four kilometers. It extends to Rayerbagh, Matuail, Signboard and Sanarpar.
Meanwhile, pressure has increased on the Dholaipard section of the flyover since the vehicular movement through the Padma bridge has started. Almost every day, this part of the toll plaza experiences heavy traffic for five to seven hours.
Helpless commuters in flyover traffic jam
Mayor Hanif Flyover is one of the means of making communication with Dhaka for the common people of the four divisions of the country. Apart from this, every day thousands of people from Shanir Akhra, Jatrabari, Matuail, Rayerbagh, Signboard, Dholaipard, Jurain and Narayanganj travel through this flyover and go to office in different parts of Dhaka city. But the traffic congestion on the flyover is taking away their precious time.
Khairul Islam Rajib works in a private company. He went to office from Matuail to Mirpur-1 every day. Rajiv said to this reporter, “The age of the job was about six years. My parents and wife and children live in Matuail. That’s why I come and go to office daily in Mirpur even though it is a little far away. But lately it seems no longer possible! It can be seen that if you have an office at 11 am, you have to leave at 8 am. Sometimes Hanif flyover cannot be crossed even in two hours. You have to sit in the jam (traffic jam) for hours. If there is a traffic jam on the flyover, it goes beyond Shani Akhara to Matuail-signboard. Going to the office for two-three hours every day has become a nightmare.
Ahsan Rubel works in a shop in New Market. He told, “We have to reach the shop at 10 am.” Earlier, if I took a bus from Jatrabari at 9 in the morning, I could reach there in an hour. Now I can’t cross the flyover in an hour. Every day the owner listens. If this continues, I will not be able to work in Dhaka city.’
Chankharpool, where the flyover ends, houses some of the country’s reputed educational institutions. Notable among them are Dhaka University, BUET, Dhaka Medical College, Habibullah Bahar College and Badrunnesa College. A large part of the students of these educational institutions travel by using the Hanif flyover. But they are spending hours and hours in the bus every day in the terrible traffic jams of the airport.
Expressing anger, a student told that reaching the class at a certain time has become a big challenge. Every day when I get on the flyover, I am afraid, how long will this jam end and the cars will come down. Sometimes I get stuck in flyover jams even though I go out with more time before exams. If there is a road, there is a way to do something, but there is nothing to do in the flyover. There is no one to see this!
Patients sit in ambulance for hours
Patients from different parts of the country rushed to Dhaka Medical for treatment. Especially people from Chittagong, Sylhet, Barisal and Khulna regions have to travel through Hanif flyover if they are going to Dhaka for treatment. In that case too, the patients suffered. They have to sit in the jam for hours.
A patient admitted to Dhaka’s Dhanmondi Ibn Sina Hospital who came for treatment from Chatkhil in Noakhali said, “I went to a local hospital in Chatkhil when I felt chest pain a few days ago. The doctors said that I had a minor stroke. They advised to be admitted to a hospital in Dhaka quickly. After that I left for Dhaka in an ambulance. Chatkhil to Shanir Akhara takes three hours but it takes two hours just to cross the flyover. Even though the situation was critical, there was no option but to sit in the jam on the flyover.
Ahsan Habib has been driving an ambulance at Dhaka Medical College Hospital for six years. He said to this reporter, “Most of the time we receive phone calls from the patient’s family in urgent moments. Despite best efforts to bring a comatose patient to the hospital, one has to sit helplessly in the flyover jam. Sometimes I also feel helpless, when the patient’s relatives sit in the car crying, begging me to take the patient to the hospital. In fact, there is nothing to do. Earlier, the flyover could be crossed in a maximum of 30 minutes, but now it is not possible even in an hour.
Allegations of dereliction of duty against traffic police
Since the fall of the government on August 5, the country’s traffic order has practically come to a standstill. With the passage of time, the condition of the road improved a little, but the suffering did not decrease.
Passengers and bus drivers feel that the traffic police is also responsible for the traffic jam on the flyover. A driver of MaumitaParibahan said, “Now nobody in the country obeys anybody.” He is entering wherever he wants with the car. The traffic police are also calm. don’t say anything Earlier it used to take 20 minutes to cross this flyover, now it takes not even an hour and a half. After getting off at Gulistan, Golap Bagh, the cars take turns as desired. Many pick up and drop passengers at the base of the flyover. The police did not say anything. If they had made proper arrangements to get off the vehicles from the flyover, this jam would not have been long.
A passenger of Tisha Paribahan said, “Though Shanir Akhara leaves in three hours from Comilla, it took two hours to cross this flyover.” The entrance and exit roads of the flyover are parked like cars, passengers board and alight. The police don’t say anything either. If this continues, it will not be possible to travel through this flyover.
In this regard, Deputy Police Commissioner (DC) of DMP’s Media and Public Relations Department Talebur Rahman said, “Due to continuous rain, the amount of traffic on the road has increased a little. This has affected the flyover. Apart from this, the car pressure has also increased in the past few days. All in all, this is the creation of the jam. It is not that the traffic police are not doing their due diligence. We have police deployments from Gulistan to Chankharpul, Golapbagh. They are trying their best to resolve the traffic jam.
What experts saying
Professor of Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and former director of Accident Research Institute. M Shamsul Haque told, “The cars of Hanif flyover are not getting the right flow while coming down to Gulistan. This is because the capacity of local roads has reduced. Especially after the fall of the government on August 5, in the absence of the traffic police, the movement of illegal vehicles such as easy bikes, battery-powered rickshaws has increased from occupying the sidewalks on different roads of Gulistan. As a result, the vehicles coming down from the flyover are not able to exit quickly through the local road. That is why the jam is getting longer on the flyover.
This expert feels that the lack of proper planning is increasing the suffering of passengers at Hanif flyover. He said, “The water of two rivers can never flow through one river. People from eastern and southwestern regions of the country are entering Dhaka every day through Hanif flyover. After the inauguration of Padma Bridge, the traffic pressure on this flyover has increased. However, the number of cars coming in, there is no proper plan to get them out. No ring road has been provided on the link road of the flyover. The road below the flyover is also in bad shape.
In response to the question of what is the solution in that case, Shamsul Haque said, “First, illegal activities must be stopped on all the roads around the exit from the flyover.” Sidewalks should be free of encroachment, restricted traffic and some ring roads should be provided. So that the flow of the car exit is correct. Apart from this, traffic police and flyover operators have to work together.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the Institute of Planning and Development (IPD) and urban planner Dr. Adil Muhammad Khan. He told, “The number of cars entering this flyover from different districts of the country every day, they can use only one lane while exiting. Basically, this is where the jam is made. I think the problem is due to the lack of proper planning during the construction of the flyover. Because, in the construction of any runway, how the cars will land and exit, the design has to be made. Here that plan was not taken properly.
In this case, this expert asked to increase the vigilance on the lower road to solve the current traffic jam. In his words, there is no opportunity to do anything new on the flyover. If you want to reduce traffic congestion, you have to pay more attention to the following roads. First of all, the roads below the flyover should be renovated so that the traffic pressure on the flyover is reduced. After that, the traffic police should increase their vigilance, so that the vehicles do not get off the flyover and take U-turns at will and pick up passengers.



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