A significant traffic jam has paralyzed commuters on the Sarishabari–Tarakandi highway throughout the day due to a surge of vehicles, predominantly motorcycles, lining up for fuel at a filling station along the route. The congestion unfolded after the Nurjahan Filling Station in the Boyra area of Sarishabari upazila commenced operations at 9:00 am, attracting a long queue of hundreds of motorcycles and other vehicles seeking refueling, resulting in a traffic gridlock on the bustling highway.
Local residents observed that the sudden influx of vehicles caused a complete standstill, halting traffic flow for several hours, with no clear timeline on when the situation would alleviate. Mahmudul Hasan, a truck driver hailing from Bogura, shared with The Daily Star, “I’ve been stranded on the road for three hours, with vehicles in front of me waiting even longer.”
Echoing similar sentiments, another truck driver named Nayan Mondal pointed fingers at the filling station authorities, attributing the disruption to their mismanagement. “The pump owners are accountable for this traffic jam. Their inadequate handling of the situation has caused this chaos,” Mondal expressed.
In response, pump owner Badsha Mia acknowledged the challenges of managing such a large crowd, citing the difficulty in controlling the situation effectively.