Thousands of people overcrowded ferry terminals on Monday, packing ferries to their fullest capacity, in a bid to return to the capital as offices reopened on Sunday after a three-day Eid-ul-Fitr holiday.
Holidaymakers from south-western districts are swarming Paturia-Daulatdia and Shimulia-Banglabazar ferry jetties to cross the river and reach Dhaka, flouting the government’s health guidelines.
Each ferry arriving at the Shimulia jetty since Monday morning was overloaded with Eid returnees as they planned to return to their workplaces after a slightly delayed end of their vacation.
All kinds of emergency delivery, passenger and freight vehicles were seen boarding these ferries to reach Dhaka.
People have been suffering immensely during this return trip of theirs as the inter-district public transport facility is still under suspension due to an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. Passengers have no choice but to switch vehicles several times to reach their destinations and pay extra transport fares on the way.
Authority concerned said that people are returning to Dhaka and adjacent districts through overcrowded ferries without maintaining social distancing rules or wearing facemasks, which highly increases the risks of coronavirus transmission.
Prafulla Chauhan, assistant manager (trade) of Shimuliya ferry jetty, told The Business Post that a huge number of commuters have reached the jetty on Monday from the Banglabazar jetty of Madaripur. Emergency and personal vehicles are also crossing through ferries.
“Eighteen ferries have been in operation on this route since morning. Some passengers are travelling to southern districts from here as well,” he added.
Mawa traffic police inspector Hilal Uddin said ferries were returning regularly from the Banglabazar jetty, adding that there was a huge crowd of passengers returning to Dhaka.
“However, they are not waiting at Shimulia for long, they are trying to go to their respective destinations by any means as soon as possible,” said Hilal.
