Tens of thousands of people left Dhaka in the last three days for homes to shares Eid joys with kith and kin.
They were happy because they managed bus, train and launch tickets finally. They struggled, waited for tickets for hours at the stations and terminals, never gave up hope and at length got tickets. Now they are going home.
A student of Titumir Government College who was at Saidabad bus terminal said that he bought two tickets for himself and his sister for going to Noakhali. But he was charged Tk 600 each against the normal fare of Tk 350. He was still happy.
Around 7-8 million people or half the city’s total population will leave Dhaka on the occasion of the Eid festival, police sources said.
“Of them, more than four million city dwellers already left the capital from Thursday to Saturday. The remaining 30-35 lakh people are making frantic efforts to reach their respective destinations by Monday” an official (Media wing) of the Dhaka Metropolitan (DMP) said.
The passengers are leaving Dhaka for their respective destinations with some worries over returning to the city safely and on time at the end of their holidays.
A 10-kilometre gridlock was created on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway stretching from Bishwa Road area of Daudkandi in Comilla to Gazaria upazila in Munshiganj with a large number of vehicles left stranded.
In the same way, bus journey from the capital to the northern and the southern districts took five to six hours more than the usual time due to long tailbacks on highways and delays at Paturia and Mawa ferry ghats.
Vehicles were moving slowly from Gumti Bridge to Doribaushia in Gazaria upazila of Munshiganj.
Sources said, due to the upsurge of vehicles crossing the bridge, movement was slow.
“Police are trying to control the situation, but their efforts are falling short,” said Kamruzzaman Raj, Police Sergeant of Bhaber Char Highway Police Outpost.
Meanwhile, around 1,000 vehicles were waiting in queue at Paturia end of Daulatdia-Paturia ferry route and a five-kilometre tailback from Jamgora area to Daulatdia.
Though Dhaka-Mawa highway remained free, Shimulia-Kawrakandi ferry route was experiencing gridlock of around 500 vehicles.
Around 17 ferries including four Ro-Ro ferries have remained operational on the route, said Abdul Alim, Assistant Manager of BIWTC.
On the other hand, excessive flow of traffic to the northern districts caused vehicles to move slowly on the Dhaka-Tangail highway.
Home-goers suffered terribly due to long tailbacks at different points on the highway.
Mohammad Moeen Uddin, a passenger of a Tangail-bound bus from the capital, said he started from Kalyanpur around 7:00am and reached Tangail at 2:00pm.
“The bus remained stuck for four hours at Chandra, Board Ghar, Cadet College, Hatubhanga, Gorai, Sohagpara, Deohata, Mirzapur, Dhalla, Pakulla, Jamurki and Natiapara areas,” he said.
