Advance sale of bus and train tickets

A festival time is also a chaotic time. This is so almost everywhere but in this part of the world where the population size is overwhelming compared to the geographic area, the chaos is at its extreme. The two Eids thus witness some unnerving times marked by all kinds of indiscipline, tailbacks on roads and highways, mishaps and immense sufferings of homebound people. To get over the problems, the authorities each year take various measures such as advance sales of bus and train tickets, extra vigilance for traffic regulation on highways and even last minute road repair. But all such efforts prove inadequate for the challenge on the big occasions. People living in big cities but with their roots in villages also have their own plan to avoid the hassle. Many send all members of their families long before the Eid rush starts, in most cases immediately after the educational institutions close.

This is the first big festival going to be celebrated under this interim government's management. No it has done nothing extraordinary other than following the course its predecessors have charted. Sale of tickets online is nothing new. That people gathered in long queues overnight or in the early hours, as reported, at the counters of Chattogram station is an indication of some people's preference for manual service or their lack of access to digital devices. Admittedly, digital or online systems may be advantageous for the privileged and educated, the country's illiterate and less techno-oriented find the manual mode of services more convenient. A drastic decline in internet and cell phone subscribers speaks volume for the digitisation here. Also, the servers of several key utility services often cannot cope with the pressure or even break down under pressure.

Although the Bangladesh Railway is not particularly reputed for rendering commendable service, it is still less costly, free of long tailback as witnessed on roads and highways every year, and comfortable. However, during the festival times, the rush is several times more and the element of comfort vanishes in no time. The train journey thus is fraught with danger let alone the travails on account of heavy crowding of compartments.

So far as road journey is concerned, it becomes unmanageable for a host of reasons. Although the people at bus counters have claimed that no prospective passenger would return empty-handed, there is no guarantee, bus tickets will be readily available. In the past, black marketing of bus tickets was rampant. Now it has been brought more or less under control but it has not become a thing of the past. Then the cheating of passengers by way of establishing overnight a bus counter displaying amazing billboards and decoration in an area where there are counters of major bus operators was also reported. The frauds had no bus at all but attracted intending customers by nicely painted pictures of bus of reputed companies only to deceive them. This is in addition to the old and ramshackle buses pressed into service after some repair work and application of a nice coat of paint.

The way this interim government is admonishing culprits and anti-social elements instead of preempting their moves and activities, there is every chance of appearance of those elements with the ill intention of defrauding unsuspecting people busy procuring tickets. Even if the people selling tickets at the bus counters argue that the week-long holiday will allow people to get enough time to get tickets, their claim is not based on any survey. The element of rush is dependent on several factors including the mentality of the people willing to return home.

Whatever may be the educated guess, fluctuation of demand for tickets cannot be ruled out. So, it is wise to get ready to manage the flow of traffic at an even pace by keeping the nasty points free from congestion. Road intersections and both ends of bridges often act as bottlenecks. If the locally made contraptions such as nosimons, karimons and slow moving three-wheelers can be kept at bay from the highways and main roads along with zero tolerance to parking on roadsides, traffic flow at a reasonable pace can still be maintained.

nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com