People have started leaving Dhaka for outlying areas for Eid-ul-Fitr amid hassles such as road construction works, illegal parking, kitchen markets and the movement of three-wheelers on highways.
Government officials, passengers and transport workers on Thursday said that people on their way out of Dhaka would face severe traffic congestion. The rush would also add to the risks of accidents.
Passengers said that additional prices of the bus and launch tickets had added woes to them.
Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to be observed on March 31 and the government has announced a five-day holiday between March 29 and April 2. The government announced April 3 as a general holiday, followed by two weekly holidays - April 4 and April 5.
Many left Dhaka on March 25 ahead of the public holiday for Independence Day on Wednesday and the last working day on Thursday followed by two weekly holidays on March 28 and March 29.
During Eid, over one crore people leave Dhaka and over 30 lakh people enter the city from other places, according to the police.
Since Thursday morning, many people have been seen leaving Dhaka without any major disruptions. The number of passengers intending to leave Dhaka increased at Gabtoli, Saidabad and Mohakhali bus terminals.聽
Many holidaymakers complained that bus ticket prices soared between Tk 50 and Tk 500 for different destinations from Dhaka.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority鈥檚 executive magistrate Sazid Anowar on Thursday conducted a mobile at Abdullahpur area in Uttara and adjacent areas and filed four cases and realised Tk 30,000 in fines for charging extra fares, taking passengers without tickets and for not showing fare list, said a press release issued by the authority.
抖阴精品 correspondent at Jagannath University reported that launch ticket prices for the Dhaka-Barishal route have increased ahead of Eid.
The deck fare has risen by Tk 100 to Tk 400, single cabin prices have gone up by Tk 200 to Tk 1,200, and double cabins now cost Tk 2,400, an increase of Tk 400.
Bangladesh Railway on March 24 started its Eid special services. The trains were running on schedule till Thursday evening.
The Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh, in an observation issued on Wednesday, 聽said that around 22.74 crore trips could be generated by roads, railways, waterways and airways for the Eid from March 20 to March 31 while around Tk 832.3 crore additional fares could be charged from people.聽聽
抖阴精品 correspondent in Tangail, quoting transport workers and the police, reported that the construction works for a four-lane on the 13-kilometre stretch on Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway from Elenga to the bridge might disrupt Eid time journeys.
Tangail district police super Md Mizanur Rahman said that they would be on the road to check congestion.
The number of traffic increased on the highway on Thursday, said Jamuna Bridge site office executive engineer Ahsanul Kabir Pavel.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Sirajganj reported that the travelers bound to different northern districts fear possible traffic congestion in different areas on the Dhaka-Tangail-Rangpur national highway for ongoing construction work of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation project-2, illegal parking, and movement of three-wheeler vehicles on the highway.
The four-lane project on 190-kilometre highway from Elenga in Tangail to Sirajganj-Bogura-Rangpur via the Jamuna Bridge has been going on for around eight years but the passengers are yet to get the full benefits of the road.
Currently, the project鈥檚 works are going on slowly in areas including Jhaoil, Bhuiyanganti and Chandaikona in Sirajganj, Sherpur in Bogura and Gobindaganj and Palashbari in Gaibandha districts.
Till Thursday afternoon, there was no traffic congestion on the highway.
On Thursday, Bogura region highway police were seen prosecuting some drivers of three-wheelers and battery-run vehicles illegally parked on the road stretched from Chandaikona to Hatikumrul areas.聽
The highway becomes narrow at Sholmail area under Uttorer Sherpur in Chandaikona, Hatikumrul intersection, Chonka Bazar and Noymail areas due to construction works.
Transport workers and passengers expressed their fear following some recent incidents of robberies in Saidabad, Konabari and Chandaikona areas in Sirajganj.聽
Bogura region highway police superintendent Md Shahidullah on Thursday said that some problems were created as truck owners鈥� and workers鈥� associations were not following their instruction of stopping services from March 25.
He had earlier said that they had installed digital devices in different areas in Sirajganj and Bogura to check robbery incidents.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Gazipur reported that travellers to around 37 northern districts left Dhaka during Eid using the elevated Bus Rapid Transit line from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Gazipur Square area in recent years.
Goods-laden vehicles also use the BRT line illegally and crowds of auto and paddle rickshaws cause regular traffic congestion which becomes severe during Eid.
In the Chandra area, people were seen travelling to the northern districts by trucks illegally on Thursday.
Gazipur district police superintendent Chowdhury Md Jaber, however, said that they would not allow any vehicle to stand or park for taking passengers during Eid journeys.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Rangpur, referring to government officials, reported that several establishments, shops and markets on the Gobindaganj bazaar-Gaibandha portion of the Dhaka-Rangpur highway were under the process of removal while transport workers feared traffic congestion there.
Roads and Highways Department additional chief engineer (Rangpur division) Mohammad Suruj Miah said that the highway was almost clear but the vehicles would need to move slowly at Gobindaganj and Palashbari areas in Gaibandaha district due to construction works.聽
Our correspondent in Mymensingh reported that there was the possibility of traffic congestion at at least 17 points on the Dhaka-Mymensingh national highway during the Eid journeys due to illegal shops, kitchen markets and parking. The points include Trishal, Bhaluka, Masterbari, Churkhai, Shikarikanda, Dhaka Bypass and Patgudam Bridge areas.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Shariatpur reported that construction works on the Dhaka-Shariatpur highway were going on slowly while some points of the road 鈥� especially on Rajnagar-Padma Bridge portion via Jajira, became unusable.
Shariatpur super service bus driver Nur Hossain said that they feared fatal road crashes on the road due to the road鈥檚 dilapidated condition.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Sylhet reported that work of expanding the Dhaka-Sylhet highway to four lanes was going on.
RHD鈥檚 Sylhet zone superintendent engineer Ahsan Uddin Ahmed said that passengers may face a bit of trouble in some areas as the works on the highway were going on.
抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Chattogram, quoting RHD鈥檚 Chattogram zone executive engineer Mohammad Shahe Arefeen, reported that the works of widening a 30-kilometer section of the Cox鈥檚 Bazar-Teknaf highway were currently ongoing.
