Extend Eid holidays by two days

Around 1.60 crore people will leave the capital and adjacent districts ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr this year, estimated Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.

The organisation warned that without proper management of public transport, the Eid journey for such a large number of people could become disastrous.

The Samity requested the government to declare April 8 and 9 as holidays to extend the Eid vacation, aiming to facilitate smoother journeys for people returning home.

Samity's Secretary General Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury made the observation at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday.

Mozammel, speaking to this correspondent, explained their estimates were based on media reports, toll plaza data, and mobile SIM data from the last Eid-ul-Fitr. They projected approximately 1 crore departures from Dhaka, 40 lakh from Gazipur, 12 lakh from Narayanganj, and 8 lakh from nearby districts before Eid. Their projections indicated that 30 lakh would travel by buses and minibuses, 4 lakh by train, 35 lakh by personal cars, 12 lakh by bikes, 60 lakh by launch, and 1 lakh by air. Roughly 18 lakh would resort to illegal methods such as riding on train rooftops or traveling on trucks and goods-laden vehicles, they estimated.

He also demanded that authorities take steps to stop private buses and launch operators overcharging passengers during the Eid rush and stop operations of unfit and illegal vehicles on highways.