Holidaymakers heading home

The railway stations as well as bus and launch terminals in the city saw an increasing number of home-bound people on Sunday, only five days before Eid-ul-Fitr.

Holidaymakers, mostly students, women and children, were seen leaving the city for their home on the day to avoid last-minute hassles.

Hundreds of people were also looking for tickets for different modes of vehicles to go to their village home and celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones.

During visit to Kamalapur Railway Station (KRS) and Gabtoli, Mohakhali and Sayedabad bus terminals, the FE correspondent found that a good number of people started leaving the city.

Transport operators fear that traffic congestion might worsen further from Wednesday night when heavy rush would start.

Highways, including Dhaka-Tangail, Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Mawa, were already facing tailbacks at some places.

Many people opt for the journey by trains this year due to intolerable traffic jam on the highways.

Md Ajmiri Alam, an official at a private mobile phone operator, went to KRS to see off his wife and two children who were waiting for Nilsagor Express, a Nilphamari-bound train.

Talking to the FE, Mr Alam said he was sending his family members much earlier so that they could reach home without any hassle.

Trains were running behind their schedules by one to one and a half hours.

The number of passengers at KRS was much higher on Sunday than that of Saturday. The number of passengers with 'standing' tickets also increased significantly.

Rezaur Rahman Palash, a student who was on board Rajshahi-bound Silk City, said he bought a train ticket without having any seat.

As like as Mr Palash, one-third of the passengers were set to travel by this train with standing tickets.

KRS manager Shitangsu Chakrabarty said counters have strictly been advised not to sell standing tickets.

Railway officials have estimated that the carrying capacity of the trains from Dhaka would be 24,000 passengers a day, but the number of passengers increases fourfold or fivefold ahead of Eid, forcing many passengers for risky travel.

While visiting the counters of private bus operators at Gabtoli on Sunday morning, the FE correspondent found that many buses left the city 1.0-3.0 hours late than that of scheduled time.

Md Awal, a manager of Nabil Paribahan, said the buses from distant districts were taking more time to come back to the capital due to nagging traffic congestion.

"We maintained bus schedules to some extent in the morning, but it became difficult for us from the noon."

He said the number of home-goers increased on Sunday significantly. "Heavy rush would start from Wednesday night," he added.

BRTC's special bus service also started on the day with an increased number of passengers.

Hundreds of people were still making their desperate bid in getting the most sought-after tickets as sales ended a few days back.

Abdul Bari, a private bank employee, told the FE at Kalyanpur counter of SR Paribahan that he wanted to buy two tickets for June 14 or 15.

"I visited several bus operators to get tickets for Panchagarh, but failed," he said.

Bus operators started selling advance tickets from May 30.

Some ticket seekers alleged that a good number of the tickets for June 13, 14 and 15 were sold to black marketeers with help of the people at bus counters.

Latifur Rahman Sohag, an official at a garment factory, said he managed two tickets for June 14 for Rangpur-bound Nabil Paribahan at Tk 1,250 each against actual fare of Tk 700.

Many people were also seen searching for train tickets. Official sales of advance rail tickets ended on June 06.

Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association, claimed that bus operators were fleecing the passengers for the tickets from June 08 to June 15.

Faruqe Talukder Sohel, president of Bus Truck Owners' Association of Bangladesh, told the FE that the condition of highways is much better this year than that of last year.

"We have requested the BRTA for strict monitoring so that unfit vehicles could not run during the Eid journey," he said.

He said the association would take stern action against the operators who would charge extra for Eid tickets.

He also requested the passengers to lodge complaint to the law enforcement agencies on any wrongdoing.

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