Eid journey: Tailbacks return
Tens of thousands today faced serious traffic congestion at different exit points of the capital from the evening as many garment factories and offices closed on Eid vacation.
Sources said pressure on the public transportation system -- buses, trains and launches -- rose manifold from the evening due to a sudden rise of passengers.
Traffic congestion and slower traffic movement were reported from the Savar, Baipail, Chandra areas, causing suffering to the people bound for the north-western regions.
Meanwhile, people heading towards southern districts via the Padma Bridge faced severe congestion at Jatrabari. A huge tailback was reported from Tikatuli to Jatrabari at around 8:00pm.
Till today, holidaymakers reported somewhat hassle-free journeys.
Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated across the country on Wednesday if the Shawal moon is sighted on Tuesday anywhere in Bangladesh. Otherwise, Eid will be celebrated on Thursday.
According to sources, the number of holidaymakers rose manifolds in Gabatoli, Savar, Baipail and Chandra areas after the garment factories closed in the afternoon.
Thousands of people hit the street outnumbering the vehicles and severe traffic congestion was reported at many points on the Dhaka-Tangail highway via Savar, Nabinagar.
Huge pressure of vehicles caused a 3km long tailback from Ulail of Savar to Radio colony after 5:00pm, our Savar correspondent reported.
Another 3km tailback formed from Nabinagar to Shreepur on Nabinagar-Chandra Road. Several bus stops on the road including Baipail, Ziranibazar, and Shreepur turned into human seas.
Officer-in-Charge of Ashulia Police Station AFM Sayed and control room at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, however, acknowledged the increase in number of passengers but said there is no traffic congestion.
According to Industrial Police, 1,233 garment factories were declared closed today, many of which are from Ashulia and Gazipur.
As the number of passengers increased, many city service buses are now being operated on the highways, overcharging people, according to our correspondents.
Joynal Mia, a garment worker, told our Savar Correspondent at Baipail that he had to pay Tk 1,800 to a local bus for his trip to Rangpur, which is double the original fare.
During a visit to Gabtoli Bus Terminal around 5:30pm, one of our correspondents saw a huge number of people gathered there searching for tickets.
As there were hardly any tickets available at the counters, some brokers were seen selling tickets charging Tk 200 to 400 higher than the actual fare.
Faridul Islam, along with two family members, went to Gabtoli around 2:00pm to go Jashore but did not find any tickets even after searching at 10 to 12 counters.
"Then I bought tickets from a broker for a local bus giving him Tk 1,000 per ticket," he said. The original fare for Jashore is Tk 750.
Similarly, thousands of passengers gathered at Kamalapur, Airport, and Joydebpur railway stations from the evening.
Many passengers even got onto the Dhaka-bound train from Joydebpur to secure seats putting the legitimate ticket holders in trouble.
However, till evening, most of the trains left the stations on time. However, Silkcity Express, Nilsagar Express, Rangpur Express, Drutajan Express and Sundarban Express were running by one hour to one and a half late, sources said.
Contacted, Shah Alam Kiron Shishir, divisional commercial officer (Dhaka Division) of Bangladesh Railway said the number of passengers rose manifold in the evening.
Situation at Kamalapur and Airport railway stations is still under control but the situation at Joydepbur is "very difficult", he told The Daily Star around 8:00pm.
A total of 68 trains including two special trains are supposed to leave Dhaka today.
Meanwhile, thousands of people gathered at the Sadarghat Launch Terminal in the evening.
A total of 69 launches left the terminal till 7:00pm, Alamgir Kabir, joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority told this correspondent.