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Busy roads barricaded

People suffer as students, workers halt traffic for hrs to realise their demands

Staff Correspondent
Commuters suffered a lot yesterday due to tailbacks as students and garment workers blocked two important points in the capital, halting traffic movement for more than three hours.
Students of different universities and colleges blocked Shahbagh intersection, demanding expansion of age limit for government jobs from 30 years to 35.
Traffic from Shahbagh to Bangladesh Engineers' Institution, Hotel Ruposhi Bangla, Kantaban and Dhaka University was barred, which caused severe traffic jams across the capital. During the blockade that lasted until 2:00pm, the students also burned tyres.
Under the banner of “Sadharan Chhatra Parishad", three to four hundred students first formed a human chain in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh from 9:00am to 11:30am, witnesses said. Then they staged a sit-in at the intersection, blocking the roads.
While ending the programme, the Parishad convener gave the government a one-week ultimatum, threatening to announce a tougher programme if their demand was not met by the time.
In the meantime, several hundred workers of Samahar Garments in Tejgaon industrial area took position on the
road in front of the BGMEA building near Sonargaon hotel from 10:00am, demanding their wage arrears.
Vehicular movement from FDC intersection to Sonargaon hotel came to a halt following the demonstration that continued until 2:00pm.
Convinced by police at one stage, the workers left the road and retreated to the BGMEA premises, said Omar Faruk, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station.
He said the factory authorities closed the unit in December last year, leaving its workers without pay.
“For a Saturday, there was huge traffic from Shahbagh to Hatirjheel via Bangla Motor. It took around one and a half hours
to travel a distance that otherwise takes 30 minutes at most," said Nurul Rahim, a banker.
Nahin Shams, a young professional, said she was stuck in a traffic jam that extended from Banani overpass to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Many others expressed frustration at the traffic situation.
A high traffic official at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said it had directed traffic to alternative routes from the places where demonstrations were taking place.
Hundreds of commuters found themselves waiting at different bus stops across the capital in the latter part of the day. CNG-run autorickshaws and other vehicles were also scarce due to the hartal today.