Societal Events Report :Hundreds of thousands of people made their way back to Dhaka on August 2 and 3 after spending the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays at their familial homes were up against scarcity of bus and launch tickets and also irregular train schedules. As many people took an extra holiday on Thursday to stretch the holidays right up to Saturday, from Monday, ports, bus depots and train station around the country experienced an incredible rush of traffic for the entire day on Saturday. Thousands of people were also seen coming back to the capital and the port city from their native homes by bus, launch, train as wells as private cars. A huge numbers of people crowded the Barisal port area and many passengers were riding on launch roofs to make the journey back to Dhaka. A huge number of passengers were seen waiting at Mawa while commute was scarce in comparison. Overloaded launches and speedboats were taking passengers across the Padma from Kewrakandi Ghat. On August 2, the trains experienced a huge rush of people returning to Dhaka. Khulna-Dhaka route Sundarban Express entered Kamalapur station three hours behind schedule. Transport operators from the city’s three major inter-district bus terminals – Gabtoli, Mahakhali and Sayedabad, said that the most passengers came back to Dhaka on Saturday. Meanwhile, passengers who returned to Dhaka on buses, trains and launches faced a further hurdle as CNG run auto-rickshaws and rickshaws charged extra fare for journeys from the terminals and stations. The transport workers are still realising extra fare from the passengers. Besides, return tickets also not available in the counters. Black-marketers are also creating an artificial ticket crisis to realise extra fare. Many passengers alleged that an anarchic situation is still prevailing in the transport sector. Transport owners and law-enforcers are supporting the dishonest transport workers. A huge number of people of the capital and other cities went to their village homes to celebrate the Eid with their families, relatives and friends. On the occasion of the festival, a special arrangement was taken to make their home journey ‘safe and comfortable.’ Besides, law-enforcers have taken steps to ensure hassle-free movement of vehicles on highways and roads. n
