A pause in horns and traffic: Dhaka’s rare holiday relief in Durga Puja

Bangla Press Desk:   Dhaka, the city synonymous with endless traffic woes, wore a different look today. With the Durga Puja holidays keeping offices, business hubs, and educational institutions closed, the capital’s main roads on Thursday were strikingly empty. The usual crowd and congestion gave way to rare calm, turning the city of gridlock into a city of relief—if only for a while.

With the Durga Puja holidays coinciding with the weekend, Dhaka’s normally bustling streets appeared almost deserted over the four-day break. Roads that are usually choked with vehicles and drowned in honking fell eerily silent, offering a rare glimpse of calm in the city of perpetual congestion.

An on-the-spot visit shows, compared to normal days, today on the main roads, there was no pressure of public transport and other vehicles. Because of the shortage of public transport, people who went out for urgent needs faced trouble. However, even though the roads were empty, the metro rail was running, and there was pressure of passengers there.

But on the main roads, the presence of pedal-driven rickshaws and battery-driven autorickshaws was also noticeable. For short-distance travel, people are choosing these vehicles.

Traffic police officials say, with the combination of the weekend and the Durga Puja holidays, from Wednesday (October 1) to Saturday (October 4), government offices, banks, and financial institutions are closed. For that reason, there is no pressure on the roads, no traffic jam.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Tania Sultana of Tejgaon Zone said, “With the Durga Puja holidays coinciding with the weekend, the impact on the roads is clearly visible today. The usual volume of vehicles is much lower, and the traffic signals are experiencing little pressure. Currently, the signals are being maintained primarily through the lights themselves.”

But regarding the movement of rickshaws on the main roads, she said: “It is not that we are not stopping rickshaws. We have taken legal action against many battery-operated autorickshaws. But because the roads are empty, rickshaws are suddenly entering from the alleys.”

Passenger Mosharof Hussain, who came from Gulistan to Mirpur, said: “Today public transport was hardly visible on the roads. There was no passenger pressure, the bus seats were almost empty today. At every intersection helpers were shouting for passengers. Normally on this route it takes over an hour. Today it took only 20 minutes. I have never reached in so little time.”

At Farmgate, rickshaw driver Ariful Haque said: “Today I am getting many fares. All long-distance passengers. I am crossing the pressured signals by taking alleys cleverly. There is no problem. To earn a little extra fare I am also taking long-distance passengers.”

Although many people felt relief seeing a traffic-free capital, this is only a temporary situation. Once regular working days resume, traffic jams will return to their old picture. Without long-term improvements in public transport, strengthening traffic management, and controlling the number of private cars on the roads, Dhaka’s traffic congestion problem cannot be solved.