The rush of holidaymakers intensified at the rail stations and the bus and launch terminals in the capital on Wednesday, the last working day before the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Bangladesh will celebrate Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of Muslims, on June 7.
The government holidays will begin on Thursday and will conclude on June 14. During the holidays, all government and non-government offices, banks and factories will remain closed.
The excessively huge crowd of holidaymakers, usually witnessed in the past, is absent this year due to a long vacation for 10 days for the first time during this Eid.
A huge number of people, however, thronged to Dhaka鈥檚 train stations and bus and launch terminals since morning to go to different districts to celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones.
The trains, buses and launches were seen leaving the capital crowded with passengers even on roofs, especially on trains, defying rules.
Vehicles on the important highways were seen running slowly but there was no major traffic gridlock anywhere in the country throughout the day.
On the highways to the northern districts, people travelled even on the roofs of the goods-laden vehicles risking their lives.
Some of the intercity trains ran slightly behind schedule on the day.
The rush of the holidaymakers would continue till Friday, said the highway police and the administration.
The bread earners, who had sent their other family members to their ancestral homes earlier, began to leave Dhaka after working hours on Wednesday.
The rush of people started at Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka since Wednesday morning.
As the guards did not let anyone ride on the train roofs at Kamalapur, a huge number of passengers including women and children were seen riding on the train roofs from Tongi station.
Many of them were seen riding on the train roof from the Airport station in Dhaka too.
Bangladesh Railway鈥檚 Dhaka divisional manager Mohiuddin Arif said that the passengers, mostly bound to northern districts, travelled illegally on roofs.
Almost all the trains ran on schedule in the morning. Some of the trains ran behind schedule later.
Ekota Express on the Dhaka-Panchagarh route was running around two and a half hours, Rangpur Express on the Dhaka-Rangpur route, Kaloni Express on the Dhaka-Sylhet route and Mohanagar Godhuli Express on the Chattogram-Dhaka route were running around one hour behind their schedules on the day.
Mohiuddin Arif, however, said that most of the trains ran on time.
鈥楾he rush of the people intensified since Wednesday evening. The rush will continue till Friday,鈥� he added.
Huge rush of the home goers was also seen at Mohakhali, Saidabad and Gabtoli bus terminals in Dhaka.
At Gabtoli, a huge number of people rushed to the bus terminal since afternoon. The staff of the bus companies said that they had already sold most of the tickets for travelling on June 5 and June 6.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Gazipur reported that a huge number of vehicles and people were seen at Tongi, Bhogra bypass and Chandana crossings on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and Chandra crossing on the Dhaka-Tangail highway on the day.
Vehicles were seen moving slowly at these points to take passengers while many other local vehicles were seen gathered at these areas.
Some bus passengers alleged that the bus staff were asking for extra fares on different routes.
Many low-income group passengers were seen travelling on the roofs of goods-laden vehicles, especially towards the northern districts on the day.
Salna highway police station officer-in-charge Shawkatul Islam said that the rush of the people would intensify from Thursday as vacations 1,154 apparel factories would begin on the day.聽
抖阴精品 correspondent in Tangail reported that vehicles on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge national highway moved slowly in the morning due to a minor accident in Sholla area and a bus accident in Jokarchor area under Kalihati upazila in the district.
The Jamuna Bridge Authority said that 33,564 vehicles crossed the bridge in the 24 hours from midnight past Monday (June 2) to midnight past Tuesday (June 3).
Of them, 17,657 vehicles were bound for North Bengal and 15,907 vehicles were heading for Dhaka.
Ahsanul Kabir Pavel, executive engineer of the Jamuna Bridge Site Office, said that there was no traffic jam on the highway on Wednesday.
All North Bengal-bound vehicles were full of passengers but the vehicles towards Dhaka were seen largely empty.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Sylhet reported that the number of vehicles increased on the Dhaka-Sylhet national highway on the day.
Passengers and transport workers alleged that it took around 12 hours to cross the highway as the road was dilapidated.
On Wednesday morning, the rush of passengers to Chandpur and Hilsha areas was seen at the Sadarghat launch terminal.
Md Mubarak Hossain, joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority posted at Sadarghat, said that the rush of passengers intensified since the evening on all routes including Barishal and Hatiya.
鈥�90 to 100 launches will leave Dhaka tonight though 60 to 70 launches leave Dhaka usually,鈥� he said and added that the rush of the homegoers would continue till Friday.
