Shawdesh Desk:

Thousands of people thronged highways, bus and rail stations, launch terminals and river channels on Saturday to reach their destinations to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival with the near and dear ones.

Around 2,000 motorcycles were waiting at Shimulia ferry ghat in Munshiganj in the afternoon to cross the Padma River.

Besides this, about 2,000 motorcycles crossed the river by ferries till 12pm, said BIWTC Shimulia Ghat Manager (Commerce) Jamal Hossain.

Many passengers were seen boarding launches and speedboats to cross the river at Shimulia in Munshiganj, Banglabazar in Madaripur and Majhikandi in Shariatpur.

A total of 85 launches, 155 speedboats and 10 ferries remained operative for ferrying Eid holidaymakers.

Jamal said around 400 private vehicles were waiting at Shimulia Ghat at 12:00pm.

Although the Gabtoli inter-district bus terminal was mostly empty in the morning, but crowds of home-bound passengers increased a bit around 2:00pm.

The people concerned think that the pressure of passengers may increase a little by the afternoon as the garment factories are on leave from on Saturday.

It can be seen on the spot that Gabtoli bus terminal was relatively empty since Saturday morning. At two o’clock in the afternoon, the passenger pressure increased a bit.

Counter master of the Golden Line Transport in the south Sohail Rana said passengers in the southwest did not want to take the bus as there was a traffic jam at the ferry terminal.

This time they are going directly to the launch. For this, the pressure of the passengers is more at the launch ghat. A few buses are leaving than in other years due to less passenger pressure.

Sohail Rana said, “Only four vehicles left from morning till 1 pm. We leave 8-10 buses at the same time in other years.”

He further said bus fares have gone up due to a rise in fuel prices. Last year, the fare was Tk 500, but this year it is Tk 630.

A counter master of Hanif Enterprise said this time the holidays are more. So people can go with time.

Apart from that, many have already gone home this time. This time the crowds at the bus terminals are a little less.

Meanwhile, the garment factories have started giving leave from Saturday. So, the people concerned think that the passenger pressure may increase by the afternoon.

Traffic on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways in Gazipur was normal on Saturday morning.

The highways were seen quite free from traffic gridlock as there was no pressure of traffic, highway police said.

From Bhogra Bypass to Chandana Crossroads, vehicular pressure increased as the day advanced but traffic movement did not stop.

Vehicular movement from Chandana intersection to Kaliakair on the Dhaka-Tangail highway was also normal.

In Chandra Trimor area on Nabinagar-Chandra highway, traffic pressure is increasing every now and then. As a result, vehicles were moving slowly.

On the other hand, traffic is moving at a slow pace in the two kilometres area from Pushpadam Resort in Gazipur Sadar upazila to Garhgarhia Mastarbari on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Traffic congestion is being created as people are crossing the roads here and there, and buses are stopping on the highway to pick up and drop passengers, said Alamgir Hossain, driver of a bus of Rajiv Paribahan plying this route.

For the same reason, movement was slow from Nayanpur market to Jaina Bazar on the highway as well.

Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police Abdullah Al Mamun said traffic police personnel were working to ensure smooth traffic movement on the highways.

“So far there is no traffic congestion on the roads,” he said.