People swarmed long-distance bus, train and launch terminals on Tuesday as city people struggled to leave for outlying areas a day before official Eid holidays begin on Thursday.
People also suffered because of traffic congestion, extra fare being charged, delay in transport schedule and inclement weather.People living in Dhaka feared hassle when they would return to the capital. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami earlier called for a 38-hour general strike beginning August 12, which
forced many to return their tickets for Eid journey.
The party on Tuesday said that it would enforce strike beginning August 14 so that people could return to Dhaka after celebrating Eid with families in outlying areas.
The passengers rushing for home suffered problems because of a tailback that spanned 60 kilometres on the Dhaka–Chittagong Highway from Bhaber Char at Gazaria to Gumti at Chandina, the New Age correspondent in Comilla said.
The Daudkandi Highway Police said that a traffic accident, a collision between two covered vans on the Meghna–Gumti Bridge early morning, had created the tailback.
The police removed the vehicles about 4:00am but hundreds of vehicles remained stranded in long queues on the both ends of the bridge.
Most of the bus operators at the Gabtali terminal in the capital were charging extra from passengers in keeping with the fare chart the Bangladesh Bus and Truck Owners’ Association had
prepared ignoring the chart of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
Transport operators were selling a ticket for a Dhaka–Jessore journey for Tk 650, for Dhaka–Darshana for Tk 550, Dhaka–Meherpur for Tk 450, Dhaka–Kaliganj for Tk 350 and for Dhaka–Stakhira for Tk 600.
But, according the BRTA fare chart, the price of a ticket for the Dhaka–Jessore journey is Tk 364.43, for Dhaka–Darshana Tk 326.73, for Dhaka–Meherpur Tk 389.08, for Dhaka–Kaliganj Tk 306.43 and for Dhaka–Satkhira Tk 492.03.
The association’s treasurer Kamal Hossain told New Age on Tuesday that although the BRTA fares had been decided for 52-seat buses, they had fitted only 40 seat to these buses to give passengers a little comfort, which they were charging the extra money.
According to BRTA officials, there was no fare chart for the 40-seat so-called chair coaches. It set fares only for 52-seat buses and 30-seat minibuses.
At the Kamalpur railway station, some trains left about one to two hours late on Tuesday.
According to the station master, Shakhawat Hossain Khan, the Chattala Express headed for Chittagong left the station about two hours late, the Isha Khan Express headed for Mymensingh, Sundarban Express headed for Khulna, Mahanagar Prabhati headed for Chittagong and Ekata Express headed for Dinajpur left about an hour late.
A huge number of people, leaving for the country’s south, crowded the Sadarghat launch terminal on Tuesday.
Many left the capital sitting on the roof of launches with the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority doing nothing to stop the overloading of rive vessels.
BIWTA joint director (safety and traffic management) Saiful Haque Khan said that BIWTA, Coast Guard, Rapid Action Battalion and police personnel were checking against the overloading before the departure of the launches.
About 120 launches were leaving and entering the terminal a day while about eight to 10 lakh people leave the capital at the time of Eid, he added.
‘It is not possible to stop overloading at Eid time,’ Bangladesh Inland Waterways (Passenger Carriers) Association leader Siddikur Rahman Patwary said.
Mirza Saifur Rahman, a ship surveyor of the shipping department, said that they had the responsibility to check the plying of unfit vessels. ‘But we have no responsibility if any launch falls in danger because of overloading.’
-With New Age input
