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Dhaka streets are becoming empty gradually as city dwellers have started leaving for their village homes ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, with the capital’s exit points seeing moderate crowds on Wednesday.
Eid journey by train from Kamalapur railway station was almost smooth while inter-city bus terminals saw medium crowds.
Our correspondents in different districts reported there were no big traffic congestions on the major highways while the ferry terminal at Paturia was not overcrowded either. However, there was pressure of vehicles on the Padma Bridge and the Bangabandhu Bridge.
Police have asked Dhaka dwellers to be extra cautious with their belongings before leaving for their home districts. They said they will continue patrolling the empty city to ensure security.
Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun at a press conference at the Sayedabad bus terminal urged Dhaka dwellers to take their cash, jewellery, and other valuables with them or leave those to relatives before going on the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation.
He said some areas of the capital can be vulnerable to thefts as a larger number of city dwellers will leave.
At Kamalapur railway station, inter-city trains maintained schedules till afternoon and crowds were not like the previous years. There was a three-layer checking system to check tickets and national IDs before passengers could board trains.
Passengers were seen standing in queues for hours to collect tickets of commuter trains as well as standing tickets of inter-city trains. As the authorities arranged online advance tickets for inter-city trains, there was no hassle for passengers of those trains who bought tickets beforehand.
Bangladesh Railway operates eight commuter trains for six destinations. Tickets for these trains were sold on demand. Kamalapur Railway Station Manager Masud Sarwar said passengers queued in front of counters for commuter train tickets and standing tickets of inter-city trains.
“We have 25 per cent standing ticket quota for inter-city trains. But the number of passengers waiting for standing tickets was large. We will not be able to accommodate all of them,” he said.
The crowds of passengers at Mohakhali, Sayedabad, and Gabtoli bus terminals were thinner in the morning than Tuesday night.
The staff members of different bus companies said passengers travelling to nearby districts started coming to terminals in the morning and collected tickets of running trips but most of the long-haul passengers have bought advance tickets, which is why there was no extra pressure at counters.
Hanif Enterprise’s counterman at Sayedabad Shafiqur Rahman said they are operating trips to southern districts every 30 minutes. “Most of the seats of these trips are pre-booked. We have also kept two to four seats reserved for emergency. The tickets for these seats are being sold before the start of the trip.”
After visiting Gabtoli bus terminal, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said there was no major gridlock on highways across the country till Wednesday afternoon. “Besides, we have not received any complaint of bus operators demanding extra fare.”
He said BRTA has set up a control room and is observing the traffic situation with 130 CCTV cameras at different points on highways where traffic congestions are normal during Eid every year.
The government has identified 20 points in Dhaka and 26 on highways where teams led by magistrates have been deployed to monitor the situation and penalise any vehicle responsible for creating traffic congestions. The teams will be on duty for seven days before and after Eid.
“We have visited some terminals. This year, the passengers’ rush is thinner, and people have got a long holiday. All are not rushing home on the same day,” the BRTA chairman said.
Our correspondents reported the pressure of vehicles on roads increased with time but no major congestion was seen. Along with long-haul buses, the movement of private vehicles increased on highways and there were a large number of motorcycles and cars.
Traffic pressure increased with time across the Narayanganj section of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, the Asian highway, and the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The pressure on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge highway increased several times.
However, no traffic jam was reported anywhere. The Dhaka-bound vehicles met at Elenga highway from the Bangabandhu Bridge roundabout via Bhuapur to ease traffic congestion. The north-bound vehicles from Elenga crossed the Bangabandhu Bridge through a two-lane road. As a result, the 13km road from Elenga to Bangabandhu Bridge was not under much pressure compared to the previous years.
