UNB :
Hundreds of buses, cars and trucks remained stranded at Paturia Ghat on Friday due to the onrush of homebound people ahead Eid-ul-Fitr.
A long tailback has been seen on Paturia road since the morning.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) sources said over 700 vehicles including private vehicles, passenger buses, and trucks were stranded at Paturia Ghat, causing immense suffering to commuters.
Over 500 freight trucks and 200 hundred other vehicles were waiting to get on the ferries.
Shah Nawaz, Deputy General Manager (DGM) of BIWTC Aricha Sector, said that 17 ferries have been operating on this route as Banalata and Rajnigandha ferries were out of order.
As normal cargo truck crossings will be closed three days before the Eid, they are waiting for the crossing now, he added.
Meanwhile, many of the bus and truck drivers stranded at Paturia said that the suffering would increase further as Eid festival is getting closer.
Transport experts and rights activists at a press conference Sunday expressed their fear that home goers will suffer more this Eid on their way home for lack of adequate transports.
They also said that people’s movement was restricted during the last four Eid festivals amid the Covid outbreak. The restrictions are no longer in place this year, which would increase the number of travellers to more than one crore from Dhaka compared to 60 lakh during the last four Eid festivals in 2020 and 2021.
The Bangladesh Passengers’ Welfare Association at a press conference Sunday at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the capital demanded taking measures to curb the unbearable traffic congestion, end passengers’ hassle on road, unruliness in fare collection and stop road accidents.
Referring to their research, Professor Md Hadiuzzaman, director of the Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said that as many as 1.15 crore people left Dhaka during the Eid festivals in 2019-20 which came down to 60 lakh during Covid. But the number would double again during this Eid.
“In our research, we have also found that on an average 30 lakh people would leave Dhaka every day during the four days ahead of the Eid day. But the transportation facilities can carry only 13 lakh to 14 lakh which means there is no transportation arrangement for the rest of the 16 lakh people,” he said.
“The transportation system may get totally impaired during this Eid,” said Prof Hadiuzzaman.
He suggested the citizens of Dhaka should leave for home after 20 Ramadan if they do not have any emergency here or send their family members home earlier to avoid suffering.
Association Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said that during this Eid, over one crore people from Dhaka and five crores from other districts may travel. This would add extra 60 crore trips for Eid shopping and travel to village homes between 20 April and 10 May in different types of transport.
“This additional pressure may bring the capital city to a standstill from 25 Ramadan till midnight on the Eid day. Besides, there will be severe traffic congestion at various points on the highways due to toll collection and rent-seeking by the unscrupulous law enforcers and transport leaders,” said Mozammel.
