Cumilla Correspondent:

Another name for the pain of the city of Cumilla  is the shassongacha flyover.  However, this flyover was made to free the city dwellers from the pain of traffic congestion.  But the people of the city are gradually being deprived of the benefits of this flyover due to various reasons including the mismanagement of the shassongacha bus terminal authorities and lack of traffic police.

 Traffic jams in Shasongacha and its surrounding areas.  It has an adverse effect on the entire city of Comilla.  Getting on and off the flyover and even on the flyover is now often jammed.  Sometimes beyond that traffic jam extends from Shassongacha area of ​​the city to police lines and Jhowtala.  Due to mismanagement, irregularity, arbitrariness and negligence of the bus terminal authorities, the traffic jam is getting worse day by day, the victims said.

According to the victims, the traffic congestion is caused due to various reasons including buses and mini buses, parking of auto rickshaws at various places on and below the flyover, forcing various vehicles to board the flyover, poor condition of the entrance road to the flyover.  By doing this, the flyover designed to ease the traffic is now turning into an unlimited suffering for the city dwellers.

According to Cumilla Roads and Highways Department, the construction of the flyover started from July 2013.  Bangladeshi Spectra Engineering Limited Company has built this flyover with a length of 631.50 meters at a cost of 94 crores.  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the flyover on April 5, 2018 after five years of construction work.

 Although the flyover was built with the thought of disruption of public life due to the frequent blockage of the railway gate due to the railway crossing, the citizens of the city are not getting that benefit due to the mismanagement, irregularity and arbitrariness of the bus terminal authorities.  Now the situation is like this, the traffic jam to get up to the flyover, the traffic jam to get down, the traffic jam at the railway gate and the bus terminal area has become a factory of traffic jams. After 12 o'clock in the night, the road lights of the flyover are almost not on.

 On Thursday it was seen on the ground that various buses were stopped in the middle of the road below the Shasangacha flyover and passengers were transferred.  This creates a long line of cars behind.  The road below the flyover is very narrow so that more than one vehicle cannot enter at the same place.  However, the road department said that renovation work is currently underway to widen the narrow road below the flyover.

 Abdul Khalek Molla, the driver of Popiya Paribahan said, "It takes us 40 minutes to sometimes 1 hour to cross the border."  Nobody listens here.  We drivers listen on one side of the passenger's noise and on the other hand we hear the traffic police.  But the car can't move forward.

A middle-aged driver of Sugandha Paribahan, who did not disclose his name, said that three more flyovers here will not work.  Those in charge of this bus terminal must have goodwill’s.

On the condition of anonymity, some other transport workers leaders said that there is a lot of politics and money games around this bus terminal.  So, in order to bring order here, it is necessary to have political goodwill along with the strictness of the administration.

A student named Anika Rani said, "I have come to the city from Daudkandi to coach university admissions."  When I came to the flyover at one o'clock in the afternoon while returning home after coaching, I saw a traffic jam on the whole road.  I was in traffic here for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  The car neither moves forward nor backwards.  What a strange country I am living in, the student asked.

In this regard, Titu Miah, the leader of Shassongacha Shramik League, said, "We always try to ensure that the traffic jam does not last long."  I am in charge of traffic myself. Traffic police are very important here.  We have always been telling the matter to the City Corporation and Traffic Police Superintendent.  No solution found.

Cumilla Additional Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Rajan Kumar Das said, we have 3 traffic policemen in Shassongacha area regularly.  Since there is a bus terminal there, the cars in the terminal make a mess.  We will see the matter on the ground.

Cumilla City Corporation Chief Executive Dr. Sofiqur Rahman said, the matter is the responsibility of the road department. We always try to keep our part free of traffic jams.  If there is any complaint against the lease, we will verify the matter and take necessary action.

Suniti Chakma, Executive Engineer of Cumilla Roads and Public Roads Department, said that about 13 crore taka worth of work is underway on the road below Shasongacha flyover.  So there might be some problems.  We will work on the issue of traffic congestion by sitting with the tenants of Shimangacha and City Corporation. Also, I have heard through you that the lights of the flyover are off. We will send our people to solve it.

DCT/OL/SMKN/END