Traffic Resumes on Dhaka-Tangail Highway After Six Hours as Gazipur Workers Protest for 30,000 Taka Wage

Traffic has resumed on the Dhaka-Tangail highway after being halted for about six hours because of a workers' movement. On Sunday, November 1, around midday, members of the law enforcement agencies including police and the BGB brought the situation under control by firing tear shells and sound grenades, and the protesting garment workers left the highway.

Vehicle movement then gradually resumed. However, with a huge number of vehicles backed up on the highway, traffic was seen moving slowly at various points.

From the morning, industrial areas in Gazipur including Konabari, Chandra, Pallibidyut and Safipur and their surroundings were in turmoil over the demand to set the minimum monthly wage at 30,000 taka. Workers clashed repeatedly with police at various places.

At one stage, as the situation turned confrontational, workers took positions at various points on the highway and stopped vehicle movement.

Police and eyewitnesses said workers from various factories came out onto the roads in the morning without joining work. As time passed, the number of protesters kept increasing.

At one point, thousands of workers armed with sticks and iron pipes took positions at various places on the highway. They set fire to wood and other materials on the road, obstructing traffic.

A police box under the Konabari flyover was later also set on fire. Several vehicles were vandalised at the time.

Journalists also faced obstruction from the protesters. Deepto Television's Gazipur correspondent Md. Jahangir Alam was injured in the incident.

Because of the worker unrest, authorities declared a holiday at most factories in Gazipur's Chandra, Pallibidyut, Safipur, Mouchak, Konabari and Kashimpur areas.

With traffic on the highway stopped, long-distance passengers, local passengers and transport drivers suffered. Law enforcement members later fired tear shells and sound grenades to remove the protesters from the highway, bringing the situation under control and allowing traffic to resume.

Gazipur Industrial Police Superintendent Mohammad Amjad Hossain said vehicle movement had become normal after workers left the highway. The surrounding situation was also normal and police remained on alert, he said.