News Desk :
Hundreds of thousands of people fled the Bangladesh capital Thursday in every available car, train and bus after authorities lifted a coronavirus lockdown despite soaring infections and deaths.
The government has allowed an eight-day respite after two weeks of lockdown which has seen troops patrolling the streets to keep people in their homes.
With the nation about to celebrate the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival, thousands of buses returned to highways, ferries left the capital for coastal ports and trains started rolling.
Traditionally, tens of millions of people in the Muslim majority country of 169 million people leave the major cities for the Eid al-Adha celebrations.
At Shimulia ferry station, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Dhaka, buses packed ferries and crowded the main riverfront, causing chaotic congestion, reports AFP.
Mohammad Sharif, an 18-year-old carpenter who lives in Dhaka, headed to his village to be with his parents.
“I am taking the first chance to get home. If the lockdown is imposed again after Eid, then I will stay at my village,” he told AFP before boarding a boat.
Police struggled to control crowds, according to Sirajul Islam, police chief at Louhojang, south of Dhaka.
“There is intense passenger pressure on the ferries,” he said. “We have taken stern steps so that the ferries don’t take too many passengers against health rules.”
Authorities said they eased restrictions to help the economy. More than 10 million cows and goats — worth billions of dollars — are slaughtered for Eid.
Bus drivers and boat operators said they were happy to be making money again.
“We have been the victims of this virus for 15 months. The impact it has on our families is unbearable,” said bus driver Abdul Kader.
“At least 300 buses have left Gabtoli bus terminal for northern Bangladesh districts since this morning. People are leaving the city en masse,” Rakib Hasan Johny, a manager of the Hanif bus service, told AFP.
Meanwhile, the capital Dhaka yesterday witnessed its characteristic traffic jams and crowded market places after weeks of lockdown and tough restrictions.
On the day the curbs were eased, massive traffic jams were seen on Rokeya Sarani, Tejgaon Road, Airport Road, Moghbazar-Gulistan Road, Farmgate-Shahbagh Road, New Market- Mirpur Road and Shayamoli-Gabtoli Road amid heavy vehicle movement.
There was bumper-to-bumper traffic on major roads in the capital. Commuters had to wait inside vehicles for hours as traffic get clogged on city roads.
Not only on major roads, traffic jams were also witnessed in key intersections across the city.
Heavy traffic was seen on the main roads during the evening hours too.
A senior traffic police officer said there was heavy vehicle movement, as most of the government staff and employees of private entities were heading for work.
