Need for hassle-free Eid ticket sale

Spending Eid holidays with loved ones has long been a common aspiration for Dhaka city dwellers. And every year, we see an exodus of city people towards their ancestral homes on the eve of Eid. But sadly, the home-goers face numerous obstacles during their journey. It usually starts from purchasing advance tickets of trains and buses. Thousands of people throng ticket counters at Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka and several bus terminals -- with many waiting overnight -- to buy tickets.

Unfortunately, some tickets are always available in the black market although the Bangladesh Railway has introduced an online ticketing system. The tickets which can be bought from this site are often shown sold out, even several days before Eid journey. Sometimes, the server says it is down. Hassle for procuring Eid tickets is endless. When a crisis like server outage happens, people's frustration turns into anger. But many of them are forced to buy tickets at inflated prices from shops near the stations.

In this situation, we urge the authorities concerned to identify those who are involved in black marketing ahead of Eid, and take stern action against them. Otherwise, the entire process of selling advance tickets for Eid holidays will fail.

Badsha Faysal,

Jurain, Dhaka,

badshafaysal199@gmail.com