Eid rush home mostly hassle free so far

Thousands of homebound people left Dhaka yesterday via road, rail, and waterways for the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, and their journey was mostly hassle-free

Most trains left the capital as per schedule, while buses left 20 to 30 minutes late on average, citing a lack of passengers, and the Sadarghat launch terminal had yet to see a large crowd.

Meanwhile, there was no significant congestion reported on any of the country’s major highways.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday assured Eid holidaymakers that there will be no traffic congestion on highways this time.

“There will be traffic pressure, but I can say there will be no congestion,” Quader said at an inauguration programme at his secretariat office.

He opened one railway overpass, seven road overpasses, and two bridges on the Tangail-Rangpur Highway virtually from his office.

He also inaugurated the second toll plaza at Meghna Ghat on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.

On a visit to the Kamalapur Railway Station, this correspondent saw that only passengers with tickets were being allowed to enter the platforms as Bangladesh Railway set up several check posts there to avoid unnecessary crowding.

All trains except Rajshahi-bound Dhumketu Express left Dhaka on time, said Masud Sarwar, manager of Kamalapur station.

Dhumketu left an hour late, as it reached Dhaka late, he said, adding that a total of 23 trains left the capital till 1:00pm yesterday.

A total of 68 trains, including two special trains, were supposed to leave Dhaka yesterday, so there was a rush of passengers at the station since early in the morning.

During an afternoon visit to the Gabtoli bus terminal, this correspondent noticed many passengers leaving Dhaka, but the crowd was not particularly large.

Buses were leaving the capital’s largest bus terminal with a 20 to 30-minute delay due to a lack of passengers, according to bus operators.

Several passengers told this correspondent that some bus operators were overcharging them.

One such passneger, Asadullah Al Galif, along with his family, was headed for Joypurhat.

“We paid Shyamali Paribahan Tk 800 for each ticket to Joypurhat. Yet the same bus operator charges Tk 600 for a ticket to Dhaka from Joypurhat,” he said.

The fare chart posted at the counter, however, showed the Dhaka-Joypurhat ticket price to be Tk 752.

Meanwhile, Fazlur Rahman, who sold the tickets to Asadullah at the counter, claimed that the passenger gave him Tk 50 extra per ticket as a tip.

Meanwhile, although the number of passengers has increased at Sadarghat but the biggest launch terminal in the capital is yet to see any major crowd, said Alamgir Kabir, joint director at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

“We expect to see large crowds from April 9 when the garment factories will close for the holidays,” he added.

A total of 56 launches arrived in Dhaka and 48 left till 7:00pm yesterday, Alamgir said.