Shawdesh Desk:

Defying all odds, people continued to leave the capital in their thousands to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims, with their near and dear ones at their respective village homes.

The rush of homebound people increased further on different routes on Friday as government, semi-government and many private offices went on holiday on the day.

City dwellers thronged different bus and launch terminals and railway stations to head towards their village homes.

While leaving Dhaka by buses, launches, trains, holidaymakers were experiencing much hassle though the situation improved a bit compared to the last several years.

Highway police remain active in managing traffic so that there is no congestion on highways.

Several thousand bikers also left the capital for their respective destinations, said sources.

The flow of passengers increased at Kamalapur Railway Station while home-goers were charged more fare than the usual one at Sadarghat launch terminal and different bus stations.

Homebound people mainly suffered while crossing the Padma and Jamuna Rivers at Shimulia-Banglabazar, Paturia-Daulatdia ferry terminals and in Bangabandhu Bridge area.

Passengers said the journey from Kamalapur was a bit comfortable as most of the trains left the station on time and the rush of passengers was relatively low than other years before Eid-ul-Fitr.

“I was not sure whether I would leave Dhaka in time as I watched on television that many trains missed the schedule yesterday (Thursday). But to my utter surprise, my train followed its schedule and I’m expecting a better Eid journey this year as the number of standing passengers is low,” Kamrul Hasan, a Chattogram-bound passenger, said.

Bus counters at Sayedabad, Gabtoli, Technical and Kalyanpur also saw a less rush of passengers.

However, home-goers alleged that bus companies charged excessive fare from them while staff of the bus companies said they never saw such a low turnout of passengers at terminals just days before Eid.

Yousuf Ali, a Rangpur-bound passenger, told media while buying ticket for a bus of ‘Ahad Enterprise’ he had to pay Tk 500 more than the original price.

He said, “The price of the ticket has been fixed at Tk 776 but the bus company charged me Tk 1,250. I had no option but to buy the ticket as I didn’t get ticket of other bus services.”

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader visited Gabtoli bus terminal in the morning, talked to passengers and briefed media.

When reporters drew his attention to the fare of Tk 300 taken by ‘Selfie Paribahan’ instead of regular Tk 150 in connivance of law enforcers, he said, “One or two incidents can happen but our officials are always alert and they’re monitoring everything.”

After the minister’s visit, a mobile court of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection visited the terminal and fined Shyamoli Paribahan Tk 500 for charging passengers extra fare.

During the operation, four more bus companies, including Orin Travels, Sathi Enterprise and Shyamnagar Paribahan, were also fined.

The two major exit points of Dhaka — Shimulia-Banglabazar and Paturia-Daulatdia ferry terminals — saw a huge pressure of vehicles and passengers.

Although there were huge pressure of passengers and small vehicles, only 10 ferries are operating on Shimulia-Banglabazar and Majhirkanda routes.

Passengers came to the Shimulia ferry terminal by buses, Leguna, and battery-powered auto-rickshaw in the morning and crossed the river by launches and speedboats in risky conditions due to the ferry crisis and delay in starting the ferries. Some small launches were fined for carrying additional passengers.

Shimulia River Port Naval Safety and Traffic Management Assistant Director Shahadat Hossain said,

“People are crossing the Padma River by launches and speedboats rather than waiting for ferries. As of this morning, 155 speedboats and 87 launches are operating on the route.”

He also said ferries were carrying private cars and small vehicles due to the safety issue of the Padma Bridge.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mamud Chowdhury visited the Shimulia terminal and urged the passengers to avoid Shimulia ghat for the safety of Padma Bridge after seeing the huge influx of passengers.

“Transporting vehicles in the ferries is somewhat interrupted due to heavy pressure of passengers and vehicles in the terminal in the morning. But the ferry operation is now normal. We aren’t allowing heavy vehicles in ferries as per the previous decision.”

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) officials said they are operating 10 ferries on the Shimulia-Banglabazar route, 21 on the Paturia-Daulatdia and only four ferries on the Aricha-Kazirhat route.

The queue of vehicles at Paturia ferry terminal in Manikganj carrying passengers of 21 southern districts stretched several kilometres.

A BIWTC official, wishing anonymity, said, “The pressure of vehicles from Shimulia-Banglabazar ferry terminal has shifted to Paturia as the former is not allowing passenger buses on board. Earlier, at least 15 ferries used to operate at Shimuila ghat allowing all vehicles. Now, only 10 ferries are operating with only private cars and motorcycles. That’s why the lines of vehicles at Paturia are getting longer.”

Most of the passengers at Sadarghat launch terminal told this correspondent that they were charged higher price for cabins.

Passengers of Putuakhali-bound launch Pubali-5 said they booked single cabin at Tk 1,800-2,000 and double cabin for Tk 3,000-4,000 instead of Tk 1,400 and Tk 2,400-2,500 respectively.

A mobile court fined Patuakhali-bound launch Farhan-5 and Bhola’s Charfasson-bound Karnafuli-12 launch Tk 20,000 and Tk 12,000 respectively for taking excessive passengers.

However, most of the launches left Sadarghat overloaded.

Police said a 24-km tailback was created on Dhaka-Sirajganj highway in Sirajganj, causing sufferings for homebound passengers amid fasting and scorching heat.

Traffic Inspector of Sirajganj police said, “The traffic congestion was created on the highway due to high pressure of vehicles, a faulty bridge at Chandaikona and a road accident at Pachlia.”

However, sources at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said all the domestic flights carrying homebound passengers left Dhaka on time and passengers faced no major problem.