Like each year, it’s the same old ticket story.
The city counters are now full of people who want to move out of the city much before the Eid vacations, having failed to lay their hands on advance tickets just before Eid — between August 27 and 30. Take Suzaul Islam, for minstance. A student of Jagannath University, Suzaul said he would go home — in Bogra – much earlier for a hassle-free journey, though the university will close for Eid vacations on August 25.
Suzaul said he could not get any tickets between August 25 and 30.
To get a clearer picture, ‘The Independent’ visited several counters bus stands and train stations on Friday and Saturday and found snaking lines in front of each counter.
Ahead of Eid, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) started selling advance tickets on August 16, while private transport companies opened their advance ticket counters the following day. But all tickets were reported sold within hours of opening the counters, leaving scores of people in the lurch.
Amid such a scenario, many people are sending their family members home earlier, themselves staying back to chance upon last-minute arrangements, while many others are also leaving days in advance by taking leave from office. Hasan, who mans the counter on Jonshon Road for Sohag Paribahan, said, “Most tickets for buses leaving Dhaka between August 27 and 30 were sold out within hours on the first day — when be began selling advance tickets. Now most people are coming to the counter to buy tickets for buses leaving the capital for different routes from August 22 to 26.”
Md Sahidul Islam Khan, employed as an electrician with the Dhaka City Corporation whom ‘The Independent’ met at the Gabtoli counter on Saturday, said, “I plan to send my family members to Barisal earlier by bus since I could not get a launch ticket. At least they will make a hassle-free journey.”
At Gabtoli, Hasib at Hanfi counter said, “The pressure of ticket-seekers began from Friday after the advance Eid tickets were sold out.” Significantly, he said, most people are now buying tickets for women and children — in other words the male members will either stay in Dhaka during Eid or make a last-moment journey.
While more than a hundred extra buses are pressed into service each year before and during Eid, the story for the passengers remains the same: tickets “sold out” within hours, if not a day or two, and then mysteriously reappearing later — to be sold at double or more than the price of each ticket. The picture is equally gloomy at different railways station of Dhaka, with demand far outweighing supply. Shamim Hossain, a Jatrabari resident waiting patiently in a line at Kamlapur railway station on Saturday with his family members, said, “I am sending my family member earlier. I will go home after vacation since only ‘standing tickets’ are available for that duration.”
Many passenger also complained that trains are regularly running two hours or more late than their scheduled time.
Railway and station officials did not want to comment on the issue.
As for the rest, many have given up the idea of going to home during Eid, so harrowing is the fight to get tickets. Soma Bonik, a teacher of a central woman’s college, said, “It is near impossible to get a ticket, so we decided to celebrate Eid in Dhaka this year.”
Courtesy of The Independent
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