Sagar Biswas :Thousands of people, some having a four-day holiday, started leaving the capital Dhaka on Thursday for their village homes to spend their holidays with near and dear ones during Eid-ul Fitr, the largest festival of the Muslim community.Country’s highways yesterday experienced season’s heaviest traffic while numerous number of city dwellers, especially working class people and service holders, largely the employees of readymade garments sector, made their journey for homes boarding all mode of vehicles.It was the last working day yesterday. Many people working at government and non-government offices left for their homes yesterday after taking leave [on Thursday]. Besides, a number of garment factories yesterday released their workers for Eid vacation. So, people were in mad rush for home. All the roads to bus terminals, launch terminals and railway station were overcrowded when people were seen running to get a transport, some of them having advance tickets, some of them none. Some were taking seat on the roof top of the buses while several were seen to take room on the loaded trucks or lorries.According to an unofficial estimate, over 70 lakh people out of nearly 1.5 crore people in the capital are expected to go home ahead of the Eid. Of them, around 10 lakh people on an average leave the city every day just a week before, and the trend continues till the Eid day.But significantly, there was apparently less gridlock yesterday, though the vehicles rolled slowly on all the national highways, including Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Moulvibazar, Dhaka-Habiganj and Dhaka-Noakhali. Traffic movement was also very slow on the regional highways including Dhaka-Kishoreganj, Dhaka-Comilla, Dhaka- Mymensingh and Dhaka-Narsingdi. But no serious complaint from commuters and drivers. Ekram Hossain, a resident of Khilgaon, who went to his village home at Rangpur, yesterday said over telephone that the journey was smooth in comparison to other years. “As we hadn’t advance tickets, we faced trouble to get transport. But it took comparatively small time to cross Ashulia- Chandra-Tangail and Jamuna Bridge. The sufferings were less this year.” When contacted, DIG of Highway Police Mallick Faqrul Islam said, “We have taken all necessary measures to prevent road accidents and ensure hassle-free journey of home-bound people. The tailback is tolerable today. We have taken enough measures to keep the highways free of traffic jam. I hope it will be usual journey this time.”Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Federation Khandaker Enayetullah Khan said, “Around 2,50,000 people are leaving the capital daily by buses. The number of passengers would be higher if overloading is counted. So, there may be extra pressure on the highways.” Meanwhile, the passengers of farthest north and southern districts faced severe problem due to scarcity of transport following the negligence of the traffic authorities. Hundreds of people were seen waiting on the roads for transport. If some of them could manage any vehicle, it took almost double fare to reach their destinations.The inter-district bus terminals, including Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali, were found overcrowded with homebound passengers yesterday, although the bus operators said they have already increased the number of daily trips. Passengers alleged that the bus operators charged excess fare on every route. Even the fare of some short-distance routes, like Dhaka-Narsingdi, Dhaka-Kishoreganj, Dhaka- Sirajganj and Dhaka-Tangail, was also higher than normal time. Sources said the passengers were charged almost three-times higher than usual in the long-distance routes like Dhaka-Chittagong Dhaka-Feni, Dhaka-Noakhali, Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Moulvibazar and Dhaka-Habiganj.Members of law enforcement agencies have intensified their monitoring at bus terminals, Kamalapur Railway Station and Sadarghat Launch Terminal to maintain law and order and prevent scalpers selling tickets in the black market. Anisul Islam Mollah, an employee of a private firm, said he purchased a ticket for a Chittagong-bound bus paying an additional Tk 500.”I bought the ticket at Tk 2,000 while the usual rate is Tk 1,150,” he said. The bus operators denied the allegation saying that they are charging fares according to the chart provided by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.”Stern actions will be taken if anyone charges the home-bound people additional transport fares during Eid journey,” Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said.But nobody paid any heed to minister’s warning. The scenario was not different in Sayedabad and Mohakhali. Several passengers, who did not collect advance ticket earlier, were seen waiting for their buses in Mohakhali for hours. “I have been waiting here for the last two hours. The bus operators are saying that the ticket will be available if we pay double,” Moin Ahmed, an official of a private bank, said.Many passengers were seen so desperate that they do not want to consider how unsafe or dangerous the journey was. Ignoring safety measures, the marginal-income group homebound passengers were also seen traveling on empty and cargo-laden trucks.There was rush of the homebound passengers in Kamalapur railway station yesterday. Those who failed to get a ticket were seen travelling sitting on the rooftop. However, the train journey was comparatively smooth this year, said passengers. Most of the trains left and reached the station in time maintaining schedule. Railways Minister Mujibul Haque has said all-out preparations have been taken to give the homebound people the ‘best’ train services on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr this year. “The Railway officials have been asked to maintain train schedules so that passengers can comfortably go home. The law enforcers will remain vigil so that passengers do not fall prey to dopers,” he said. City’s Sadarghat Launch Terminal yesterday also experienced the wave of homebound people rushing to their village homes to celebrate Eid. About 200 launches left the terminal yesterday to south and southwestern destinations taking over 50, 000 passengers.Officials said this year extra precautionary measures have been taken to prevent any accident, as the Eid would be celebrated in full monsoon. The trend would continue till day of Eid-ul Fitr.
