Dhaka looks a bit quiet with Eid exodus
Dhaka: As Eid-ul-Azha is set to be celebrated on Friday morning, lakhs more holidaymakers departed the capital by buses, trains and water vessels for their native villages to share the joy of the festival with their near and dear ones enduring all the troubles of travelling.
Kamalapur Railway Station, three major bus terminals and Sadarghat Ferry Terminal were over crowded with the home-goers waiting for hours together to catch their transports to reach their destinations.
All the trains, buses and launches leaving Dhaka were packed like sardines. Although against the rules, many passengers were seen travelling on bus and train roofs to beat the rush. The usual bustling city traffic, meanwhile, has eased much with the exodus of millions of people, giving those stayed back a greater breathing space.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (media) Muntashirul Islam said around 12-15 lakh people are expected to leave the city on Thursday. He said around 35-40 lakh other eid-trippers have already left city dwellers for countryside over the last one week.
Those travelling by buses for northern districts had to endure immense sufferings due to gridlocks on Dhaka-Tangail highway.
Contacted, Superintendent of Police (SP) Highway (Comilla) Md Rezaul Karim said vehicles on both sides of Dhaka-Chittagong highway have been running smoothly as no tailback was seen from the morning to till 7:00 pm.
But the situation was completely different on Dhaka-Tangail Highway and Dhaka-Aricha Highway.
Many buses got stranded due to on Dhaka-Aricha road after Manikgonj as ferries have been taking almost double time to cross the Jamuna River following its heavy current in the river from the morning, said a BIWTA officer posted at Paturia Ferryghat.
Many bus passengers were seen waiting for hours at Gabtoli Bus Terminal for their trips home as most buses were running behind their schedules as the bus operators claimed their most vehicles returning from outside Dhaka got stuck on roads putting their schedules in disarray.
Unlike other days, the Kamalapur Railway Station was in total mess since morning. While some made it into the compartments, many more perched on train roofs, risking their lives.
The platforms of the station turned into a human see since morning as people opted four train journey because of sufferings on highways in buses due to tailbacks.
Most trains were running behind the schedule thanks to the mad rush of eid-trippers.
A large number of home bound passengers were seen waiting at the platforms of Kamalapur Railway Station for hours due to the delay of the departures of several inter-city trains.
Kamalapur Railway Station Master-2 Nripendra Chandra Shaha said they are making their all-out efforts to maintain the train schedules.
He said the trains are running at a slow speed as part of precautionary measures to avoid any unexpected accident as those were overcrowded, causing the schedule failure.
Some passengers alleged that despite having tickets they could not get into the trains due to immense pressure of passengers, mainly for those who have no ticket.
Anika, a medical student said, ‘Even after waiting for four hours since early morning to catch the Khulna-bound Shundarban Express, I've failed to get into the cabin I booked for my journey as there is barely an inch of space to move inside the train. Now my journey to home is uncertain. ‘
Railway DG Khalilur Rahman said they are helpless to restrict the entry of those who have no ticket due to the mad rush of people. ‘A scene will be created if we try to block them from entering the platform.’
There was surge of home-goers passengers of southern region at Sadarghat launch terminal was seen since morning. Launch passengers had to negotiate heavy traffic between Gulistan and Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
The passengers sat in cabins, on rooftops and stairs, and wherever they found a bit of space.
Most vessels were seen carrying passengers beyond their capacity flouting rules.
Soliman, a BIWTA transport inspector, said the launch terminal said they are trying their best to force the launch operators to maintain the rules and regulations. ‘But due to heavy rush of passengers it sometimes becomes difficult for them to properly monitor all the vessels.’
He said around 60 launches left the terminal for different destinations from 6am to 4pm on Thursday while 62 more vessels are scheduled to go to different southern areas within night.
Many passengers alleged the launch operators were charging extra, an allegation denied by the operators.
Law enforcers, including Rab, river police and the Coast Guard, were present at the launch terminal to avert any untoward incident.