Paturia ghat teems with small vehicles for Eid rush

The rush of homebound travellers and vehicles is growing at the Paturia ferry terminal in Manikganj ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, report agencies.
Since Thursday morning, over 300 private vehicles, mostly cars, have been waiting in line at the popular ferry ghat to cross the Padma river.
Private cars were stranded in the Tepra area of Dhaka-Aricha highway, 10 kms ahead of Paturia terminal. There's a separate lane at ferry terminal No-5 for these vehicles.
Besides, around 100 buses and 100 trucks were also waiting at the terminal to cross the river, although the movement of all goods-laden trucks will remain suspended for three days ahead of Eid.
These trucks have been stranded at the terminal for the last three days and so the authorities are letting these heavy vehicles cross the river, said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) DGM Shah Md Khaled Newaz.
"If the pressure of vehicles increases further, more ferries could be pressed into service," said DGM Khaled.
Mohiuddin Russell, manager of BIWTC's Paturia office, said the pressure from small vehicles has been particularly high at the pier in Shibalaya upazila on Thursday.
As many as 20 ferries are transporting vehicles across the Padma River, he added.
A 2-km tailback stretching from the pier's main road to Nali Bazar had formed in the morning. The traffic mainly consisted of private cars and trucks carrying emergency goods. Scores of holidaymakers waited their turn to make the crossing in the sweltering heat.
Many of them came by bus while others brought their cars. But all of them were stranded in the snarl-up at the pier.
Rajbari-bound Miraj (25) took a bus from Gabtoli to get to Paturia. He is hoping to catch a local bus on the other side of the river to reach his destination.