C T Online Desk: Severe floods have severed road and rail communications to and from Chattogram, causing immense suffering for passengers and significantly disrupting business activities, particularly those related to import and export.
Since Thursday afternoon, various vehicles have been stranded in a massive 50-kilometre tailback stretching from Baraiyarhat in Mirsarai to Mia Bazar in Cumilla on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
The situation, caused by heavy flooding across different sections of the highway and vehicles breaking down in the waterlogged areas, has left thousands of people stranded and desperate.
The suffering of transport workers and passengers stuck in their vehicles has been overwhelming, with many enduring extreme hardships for days.
The situation remains dire as Cumilla Highway Police Superintendent Khairul Alam confirmed that the traffic remains at a standstill, with little hope for improvement until the floodwaters recede.
One harrowing account comes from Md Mosharraf Hossain, a muazzin from Kazri Dewri in Chattogram, who recounted his gruelling journey.
After starting from his village in Patuakhali on Thursday evening, he reached Cumilla on Friday afternoon, only to find the highway impassable.
Determined to reach his destination, he walked for four hours through chest-deep water, carrying his belongings on his head, finally arriving at Lemua Bridge in Mirsharai late at night.
His story reflects the dire conditions faced by thousands, especially vulnerable children and the elderly, trapped in stalled vehicles along the flooded highway.
The railway authority has suspended train services from Chattogram since Thursday due to deteriorating track conditions, further compounding the transport crisis.
Business activities, particularly import-export operations, have ground to a halt, adding another strain on the economy already battered by recent disruptions.
Sector insiders reported that over 3,500 goods-laden vehicles destined for or departing from Chattogram port, private Inland Container Depots (ICDs), and wholesale markets in Khatunganj-Chaktai have been stranded on the highway for the past two days.
The delivery of goods from Chattogram port and the arrival of export-bound vehicles at private ICDs have sharply declined during this period.
