Launch journeys ahead of Eid yet to pick up steam

City dwellers’ launch journeys to their hometowns ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr have not yet gained momentum even though the coronavirus pandemic has apparently subsided.

Commodity price hikes and the Covid-19 fallout have hit the low- and middle-income people hard, and these are the reasons why they have not yet prepared for Eid journeys.

Launch owners say Dhaka dwellers usually start sending their wives and children to village homes via launch from mid-Ramadan to avoid Eid-time rush and other hassles.

However, such travels have not yet begun on the 42 routes to the southern region this year, they added.

“I have five launches plying the southern routes, but only one is now transporting passengers between Dhaka and Barishal. I am incurring losses of Tk 35,000-40,000 per trip due to a lack of passengers,” Shahidul Islam Bhuiyan, owner of Rabeya Shipping Company, told The Business Post.

He said 80 per cent of passengers of his launches belong to the low- and middle-income groups.

“These people have been in a financial crisis since the pandemic began. That is why they have not yet begun their Eid travels. All launch companies are facing a similar situation,” added Shahidul.

People got a three-day holiday last week, including Pahela Baishakh. Launch owners thought they would get a lot of home-bound passengers but that was not the case. The luxurious cabins were mostly vacant during the holidays.

On Friday, both day and night launches on Dhaka-Barishal, Dhaka-Bhola, and Dhaka-Chandpur routes carried only a small number of passengers from the Sadarghat terminal. Kazi Iqbal Hossain, general manager of Fairy Shipping Lines, told The Business Post launches on the Dhaka-Hatia and Dhaka-Charfesson routes usually remain crowded during Ramadan every year but the scenario is different this time.

He said around 50 per cent of the cabin and deck seats on these routes are empty this year. “We hope the Eid rush to go home will start from the 20th Ramadan.”

Kamal Krishna Roy, supervisor of MV Gazi Salauddin which runs on the Dhaka-Borhanuddin route, said garment workers’ holiday may begin three to four days before Eid-Ul-Fitr. “They will start their journey then. They even travel on the Eid day.” Meanwhile, workers of some dockyards in Keraniganj are busy refurbishing old vessels to prepare them for the excessive pressure of passengers ahead of Eid. New cabins have been added to some launches.

Around 80 to 90 three-storey launches ply the southern routes. Several of these vessels travelling to nearby destinations, such as Damudya, Gournadi, Gosairhat, Bhedarganj, Matlab, and Muladi, are allegedly unfit.

But launch owners disagree, claiming the vessels are up-to-date and also fit to carry passengers even amid bad weather.