Homebound people suffer ahead of Eid

FE Team | Published: November 05, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Jubair Hasan and Yasir Wardad Thousands of homebound people faced untold sufferings Friday due to inordinate delay in getting their transports, specially buses and trains, and severe traffic congestion on the country's key highways. A visit to various stations and ticket counters on the day revealed that the home-goers had to wait for hours since morning to get into their scheduled transports, ruining the satisfaction of getting tickets without much trouble this time. A large number of people were seen leaving the capital by sitting on the rooftop of buses, trains and launches, thus risking their lives just to spend a few days with their near and dear ones. The transport owners were seen committing the offence of taking extra passengers before the nose of the law-enforcement agencies. The government last year banned carrying passengers on rooftop during festivals to avoid accident by mentioning that the violators of the ban would face stiff penalties. Overloaded launches, trains and buses with thousands of homebound passengers were also seen leaving the capital for different destinations without adequate safety measures. "We're waiting for five hours at Kalyanpur counter to get into a bus. But we even don't know when it will come to pick us up," said Rezaul Karim, a government official who would go to Kushtia with the members of his family. He said they were told by the transport company that their bus had been caught up in a traffic jam on its way. Housewife Shamima Begum said her husband went to the bus counter to know the latest development of their vehicle. "I can't wait for long, as my one-year-old daughter becomes sick in polluted and noisy environment," she said. Passenger of a Khulna-bound Eagle Paribahan Abidur Rahman said he collected a ticket of the transport company and the bus was supposed to leave the city at 11:00am. "I'm still waiting for the bus even four hours after the scheduled time." "I celebrated my success in managing the ticket a week ago, and this is the outcome of it," he said without hiding his frustration. Authorities of the bus companies said their buses could not reach the counters timely due to terrific gridlock on the highways. "Even we don't know when the buses will reach," said Babu, manager of Eagle Paribahan in Kalyanpur counter. "The buses are taking extra time to return to the depots in the city from different destinations across the country. A terrible traffic jam has paralysed the highway from Gabtoli to Kaliakoir", manager of Hanif Paribahan Md Samad Ali told the FE. The delay in getting buses sparked violence among a section of passengers, and some of them damaged the bus counter of Feni-bound Starline Paribahan last night. The scenarios were almost the same in other bus counters -- Mohakhali and Sayedabad -- in the capital. According to traffic officials, buses and other modes of transportation got stranded from Daudkandi to Chandina on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and from Kaliakoir to Gabtoli on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway. Comilla Highway Police assistant superintendent of police (eastern zone) Belayet Hossain Shikder Friday said, "This traffic jam has been created due to increased pressure of traffic, forcing the vehicles to move very slowly." A driver of Unique coach service on the Dhaka-Chittagong route said despite police attempts the situation relating to the tailback remained almost the same. The traffic jam became acute over the 30 kilometre area of the highway Friday noon, particularly at Gouripur, Madhaiya and Chandina areas. The launches from Sadarghat terminal were carrying two to three times more passengers than their respective capacities, whereas the launch owners were charging increased fair, claimed the passengers. Sadek Islam came to Sadarghat Friday to go to his home at Amtoli in Barguna, and was looking for a ticket of Jom-Jom passenger launch. Talking to the FE he said the launches were charging Tk 450 to Tk 500 against the usual fair of Tk 250 for his destination. When asked, Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Khandker Shamsuddoha said the launches and steamers can carry nearly 40,000 passengers per day to Barisal and other coastal districts. "But nearly 0.2 million people thronged the ports before the Eid," he added. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Railway officials said train communication on several rail routes remained suspended for about five hours, as a goods wagon derailed in Comilla Friday afternoon. Train service on the routes resumed at about 8pm as a rescue train from Laksam junction reached the spot and salvaged the train. A railway officer at Kamlapur Railway Station said against the capacity of issuing around 12,000 tickets per day, they are now facing demand for more tickets every hour.