A railway police personnel using a megaphone to asks travellers to follow the health safety rules as people queued up yesterday to enter the capital’s Kamalapur Railway Station to board the trains and reach their destinations to celebrate Eid with their dear ones. Photo: Anisur Rahman

With traffic congestion on the Dhaka-Tangail-Rangpur highway and ferry terminals on Padma River already causing sufferings for holidaymakers, the situation may turn worse today after the closure of the garment factories and offices.

Although the number of home-goers was relatively less yesterday, transport service providers and officials involved in the sector said the number is likely to rise sharply today, leading to a deteriorating situation.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.

People who left Dhaka for the north and north-western districts yesterday, faced sufferings due to long tailbacks on both sides of the Bangabandhu Bridge during the first half of the day.

Although launch and ferry services on the Shimulia-Banglabazar route witnessed crowds during the first half of the day, services on the Paturia-Daulatdia route were at almost the usual level, our district correspondents reported.

Like previous days, physical distancing was largely ignored during the home rush. Many home-goers did not even wear masks, raising concerns over a rise in Covid-19 transmission in crowds at terminals and stations and on crowded transport.

The government relaxed the strict lockdown for eight days from Thursday for Eid, which will be celebrated on Wednesday. It made the move although many experts had warned that lifting the restrictions may lead to a spike in infections and deaths.

Some 16.93 lakh mobile phone users left Dhaka on July 15 and 16, according to data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Mustafa Jabbar, minister for posts, telecommunications and information technology, shared the information on his Facebook account yesterday.

HEAVY TRAFFIC ON DHAKA-TANGAIL-RANGPUR HIGHWAY

Like the previous two days, the highway -- a gateway to the northern districts -- witnessed heavy traffic of vehicles carrying home-goers and cattle-laden trucks yesterday.

As a result, a tailback of a large number of vehicles was created on both sides of Bangabandhu Bridge in Tangail and Sirajganj early yesterday. Traffic congestion, however, started easing after 10:00am.

But a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a truck at Soratoil area in Kalihati upazila at around 4:00am, left 10 people injured.

Although police and fire service members rescued the injured and sent them to Tangail General Hospital, vehicular movement on the busy highway remained halted for one hour, causing a long tailback there.

A total of 32,713 vehicles crossed the bridge in 24 hours till yesterday 6:00am and the authorities collected Tk 2.82 crore in tolls, sources said.

Meanwhile, the launch terminal for the Shimulia-Banglabazar route witnessed crowds in the morning and many of the launches were seen operating with more than the stipulated passengers, violating the health safety guidelines, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.

The ferry terminal also witnessed a tailback of private vehicles in the morning but which eased as the day progressed.

Visiting the Paturia-Daulatdia ferry terminal around 1:30pm yesterday, our Manikganj correspondent found ferry services at almost the usual levels.

PRESSURE LIKELY TO RISE TODAY

The five-day Eid holiday, including the weekend, will start from Tuesday but many people will leave Dhaka during the second half of today.

Romesh Chandra Ghosh, chairman of the Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association, said the number of passengers was low yesterday but vehicles still faced tailbacks on the Dhaka-Tangail highway and at ferry terminals.

"Buses are running four to five hours behind schedule due to traffic congestion on this route. But we are fearful about what will happen once the holiday starts," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Asked about allegations of overcharging by bus operators, he said many buses are being operated from outside the terminals and they have very little to do regarding those buses.

Mosharref Hossain, general manager of Hanif Paribahan, echoed Romesh.

He said buses returning from south and south-western districts via the Paturia-Daulatdia route faced delays while returning. Buses had to wait for hours at Daulatdia terminal to cross the river to give way for cattle-laden trucks and faced traffic jams on the Nabinagar-Gabtoli road due to a large cattle market at Gabtoli.

He said the situation may worsen once the garment workers start to leave Dhaka from today.

Around 40 lakh workers are involved in the garments sector, of which 70 percent are from Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Gazipur.

Meanwhile, Sadarghat Launch Terminal saw a greater number of passengers yesterday as compared to Saturday.

A total 95 launches left the country's largest terminal on Saturday while 60 launches left till 7:00pm yesterday, said Zainal Abedin, joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

"Forty more launches are likely to leave till tomorrow [Monday]," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The number of passengers is likely to increase today, he added.

Meanwhile, Masud Sarwar, Kamalapur station manager, said 34 inter-city and local trains were being operated from Dhaka to different districts.

"Although there is a crowd of passengers outside the station we are not allowing any passengers without tickets," he told this correspondent.

Meanwhile, several special trains carrying cattle reached Dhaka from different districts yesterday.