Homegoers happy with smooth Eid journey

Most holidaymakers breathed a sigh of relief at their unusual hassle-free homebound journey on the first of the Eid holidays which started with Shab-e-Qadr yesterday.

Instead of the usual traffic congestion on the main roads of the capital, Dhaka started emptying early in the day and the pressure on public transport and vehicles started to decrease after noon.

However, the traffic on the roads from Mohakhali to Airport to Gazipur, from Sayedabad to Jatrabari to Kanchpur, from Gabtoli to Hemayetpur to Savar, and the roads leading out of Dhaka started to increase slightly from the afternoon.

Although there were some allegations of extra fares and ticket crises, compared to other Eids, passengers looked pleased that their suffering this year is much less.

Besides, many rail passengers attributed the smoother experience to a 100% online rail ticketing facility and three rounds of strict checks on the way to enter stations.

There were fewer passengers without tickets, so the Eid journey by rail also showed signs of peace, they said.

Moreover, the Padma Bridge helped ease the pressure on launches at Sadarghat.

Also, no major accidents or long traffic jams were reported on the day, said the hotline set up by the Road Transport and Highways Department (RTHD).

The hotline said that vehicles were running smoothly throughout the day. However, there was extra pressure on the roads in some areas.

Samiul Quader Khan, sub-divisional engineer of the Narayanganj division of the RTHD, said, "Although there was some traffic jam on the Dhaka bound road around noon, the pressure on the Chattogram bound road was less."

Around 3:30pm, due to a small accident, the road towards Chattogram had some congestion, he said, adding that situation returned to normal by evening.

However, due to the delay at the Padma Bridge toll plaza, the Bangabandhu Highway was under pressure till noon on Tuesday, but it became somewhat normal on Wednesday afternoon.

Motorcycles will be allowed to ply the Padma Bridge from today. For this purpose, a toll plaza has been opened for motorcycles.

Four motorcycle tolls can be collected per minute at this toll plaza, said Md Monjur Hossain, secretary at the Bridges Division. 

It is expected that the pressure on the expressway connecting the bridge will decrease as the toll collection of the highway has started through mobile financial services.

Meanwhile, the number of vehicles on the Bangabandhu Bridge is increasing, said the bridge authority. Around 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles ply on the bridge every day, but the number doubled yesterday.

Discipline in train schedule

Following the accident involving the Sonar Bangla Express in Cumilla, most trains departing from Kamalapur were delayed until Tuesday. However, on Wednesday, almost all trains left Kamalapur on time.

In rail, the third day of Eid-journey began at 6am with the Dhumketu Express en route to Rajshahi. After that, there were no delays reported in any other trains except for the Nalisagar Express bound for Chilahati.

Despite having fewer passengers the previous day, every train was fully occupied Wednesday. As soon as the trains arrived at the platform, passengers rushed to board. Those who had purchased their tickets in advance on 9 April were able to travel by train yesterday.

Earlier, only ticketed passengers were allowed to enter the station after undergoing three rounds of checking. Despite the inconvenience, many people prefer to take the train from Kamalapur even if they purchase their tickets from the airport.

Kamalapur station manager Masud Sarwar said the passenger number on trains has been increasing since the start of the Eid holiday. "To address this issue, 25% of the total number of seats in the Shovon class on each train have been allocated as standing tickets."

Peaceful Eid journey at Sadarghat

People from the southern region of the country are returning home with relief from the Sadarghat launch terminal, which is the capital's main river port, during the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. Launches are departing early to transport passengers to districts that are located at short distances from the capital.

Launches en route to Chandpur, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola, and Jhalkathi also departed from Sadarghat. Despite some passenger pressure, there were no complaints from passengers regarding fares. Many people purchased tickets at the government-set rates.

Md Kabir Hossain, joint director of the Maritime Safety and Traffic Management Department of BIWTA in Sadarghat, said that earlier, 200 launches used to depart from Sadarghat, whereas currently, only 46 launches are operational.

"There is no opportunity to charge extra fares during this season. We will take action if any complaints regarding this issue arise," he added.

Empty Dhaka streets

Meanwhile, the capital city Dhaka is starting to change its look. No unbearable traffic jams and noise of people were seen in this one of the most populous cities in the world yesterday.

Most of those who are still outside on these empty roads are on their way to their villages to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.

Such images were seen in many places including Mirpur, Kallyanpur, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Banglamotor, and Shahbagh in the capital on Wednesday.

However, there was some traffic congestion in the Karwan Bazar area in the afternoon.

Ibrahim Hossain, a private service holder, going to Lakshmipur with his family on Eid vacation told TBS, "I left in the morning thinking the traffic would be low today. What used to take two hours to cross, today took only 25 minutes."

Rickshaw driver Md Sharif told TBS, "There are no traffic jams today. But I am not earning much today as there are very few people on the streets. I earned only Tk100 since morning."

Md Alamgir Hossain, another rickshaw driver, said he has received Tk300 as fares since morning. On other days he earns more than Tk500.