A chunk of tickets for different modes of transport is kept aside for VIPs ahead of Eid every year, forcing ordinary people to go through untold sufferings to reach home for celebrating the festival with their dear ones.

While thousands of people stand in queues for hours to get tickets, the privileged few simply make phone calls to transport operators and reserve seats in buses, trains and launches.

It has become a practice that a large number of tickets must be set aside for politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, police officials and other influential people, say transport operators.

Seeking anonymity, the managing director of a reputed bus company said 25 percent of its tickets were kept for VIPs.

"We have to meet their demands to maintain good relations with them and run our business smoothly," he said.

The general manager of another company said, "Around a dozen lawmakers phone me or send their representatives for tickets ahead of Eid. If I don't meet their requests, I may face problems in operating the service."

Bus companies started selling advance tickets on Friday in the run-up to the Eid likely on September 25. 

Visiting bus counters in the capital's Gabtoli yesterday, the correspondent noticed that many were refused tickets for September 22 and 23 despite a long wait in the queue. But a few got tickets, using their links with high officials of bus companies.

"My cousin knows the manager of this bus company. On his [cousin's] advice, I met the manager who sent me here [ticket counter] with a short note. I showed this note and the ticket seller gave me tickets for September 22," said Obaidullah, student of a private university, who bought two tickets of Hanif Paribahan to travel to Rajshahi.

Though there are official allotments of train tickets, influential people encroach on what should be left for ordinary commuters. 

Twenty-five percent train tickets are available for online purchase, 5 percent for VIPs, 5 percent for railway staff and the remaining 65 percent are supposed to be sold at ticket counters.

Seeking anonymity, a railway official said nearly one-fourth of the 65 percent tickets are sold through lobbying.

The demand for train tickets is much higher than the capacity, and such lobbying before Eid worsens the crisis.

Bangladesh Railway, which will start selling advance tickets on Tuesday, has the capacity to carry around one lakh passengers daily from Dhaka to other districts. But the demand outstrips the capacity manifold before Eid, said railway officials.

In case of launches, around 70 percent cabins are reserved for VIPs, while deck tickets are sold on board, said launch owners.

Badiuzzaman Badal, senior vice-chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport (passenger carriers) Association, said more than a hundred private launches that leave the capital for different destinations can carry around 3,500 passengers in cabins daily. But the number of passengers goes up to around 10,000 a day during the Eid rush.

Around 50 lakh people leave the capital to celebrate the festival at their village home, according to transport operators.

Insufficient transport creates a chaotic situation at bus, train and launch terminals before Eid, causing untold sufferings to thousands of people every year.