"Two more mobile courts will be posted in and around Kanchpur Bridge and Narayanganj Link Road tomorrow (Thursday) to head off the problem," said Home Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury, who chaired the meeting of the law and order review committee at the home ministry.

"We are determined to improve the situation during Ramadan," he added.

The meeting that came on the second day of a special drive against traffic infractions addressed the capital's traffic jam situation at length and also discussed their causes and remedies.

State Minister for Home Lutfozzaman Babar, Home Secretary Omar Farooq, Inspector General of Police Shahudul Haque, BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) chief Major General Jahangir Alam and DMP (Dhaka Metropolitan Police) Commissioner Ashraful Huda were also present at the meeting.

Already 20 mobile courts and 40 strike forces comprising over 5,000 police, BDR and ansar personnel began cracking down on illegal parking and other traffic law violations on the first day of Ramadan on Tuesday.

But there was no appreciable change in the situation on the second day of the drive yesterday as rush hour traffic, like the day before, again came to a grinding halt at different city points.

Seventeen mobile courts filed 203 cases against vehicles and also fined them Tk 71,525 for violating traffic laws yesterday.

The courts also removed wayside illegal structures from Pallabi, Mohammadpur, Paltan, and Gulistan, and in front of Notre Dame College, Shapla Chattar, Shilpa Bhaban and Bangladesh Bank, a home ministry press release said. Roadside hawkers were also driven away from those areas, it added.

Mobile courts in Lalbagh also cleared out the Chawkbazar area, while similar eviction drives were carried out from Jatrabari to Shanir Akhra.

Roadside hawkers from Abdullapur to Uttara Police Station were also ejected.

The mobile court at Dhanmondi cleared the footpaths around Jhikatola bus stand and Elephant Road, the press released said.