Staff Reporter :
City people on Monday have started leaving the capital Dhaka to celebrate the holy Eid-ul-Azha with their near and dear ones at their respective village home.
The city’s Kamalapur Railway station, Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus terminals and Sadarghat launch terminal were seen crowded with homebound people on Monday as they left for home with their family members to celebrate the Eid.
As the three days official holiday for Eid-ul- Azha will begin from Friday, many officials and employees of government and private organisations took three holidays from Tuesday and left the capital on Monday.
Bus, launch and railway stations will witness the main Eid rush on Wednesday and Thursday as a large number of people will make their frantic efforts to reach their native villages in the two days, sources said. As the Cabinet did not take any decision about the extension of vacation in Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha and religious festivals of other communities, many government officials and employees on Monday applied for leave in order to go to their village home earlier.
Meanwhile, the homebound people are facing serious difficulties on their way due to bad conditions of roads and highways, non-availability of train tickets and realising of extra bus fare among others.
The floodwaters and torrential rainfalls in phases for last one month caused damage to Dhaka-Chittagong highway, Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Tangail at several points and roads in other uapzilas in the districts across the country.
Senior highway police officials fear that Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Tangail highways will witness serious gridlock.
Apart from sever traffic congestion, traffic is running at a slow pace on Dhaka-Tangail highway as work to turn it into four lanes is progressing, an police official said.
However, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday claimed that there was no traffic congestion in the country. “Traffic congestion was created at different points on highways when some vehicles went out of order. But the situation is getting improved,” he told journalists in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj district yesterday.
A major portion of the Eid holidaymakers will start leaving the city after Thursday noon as the day is the last working day for the government and private officials and employees before Eid.
Both plainclothes and uniform police have already strengthened their vigilance to prevent the activities of ‘Malam Party’ and ‘Agyan Party’ as well as other crimes for ensuring hassle-free journeys of the homebound people.
The Bangladesh Railway, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) have taken different initiatives including introduction of special launches, trains and buses to make hassle-free Eid journey of homebound people.
Seven pairs of special trains have already started running on various routes from Sunday and these trains would continue till August 31 before Eid and from September 3 to 7.
An official at Kamalapur Railway station said those who purchased advance ticket on August 19, they left the city on Monday.
“Actually the Eid journey began from Sunday,” he said.
Sources at the bus terminals and highway police said the traffic pressure on highways will be high this year compared to previous years due to the short holidays
In Daulatdia ferry ghat, hundreds of goods-laden trucks got stranded for three days as the vehicles were not allowed in the ferry. “Carrying gas cylinder we reached Daulatdia ferry ghat on Saturday. But we are yet to cross the river as the authority is giving priority to the cattle-laden trucks and passenger buses,” a truck driver told journalists on Tuesday.
Abdullah Al Zubayed, Sub-Inspector of Daulatdia ferry ghat traffic police said they are giving priority to cattle-laden trucks and passenger buses.
“But we are also allowing one goods-laden truck to board on the ferry ghat,” he said.
