Long tailbacks on major northern highways, charging of additional bus fares, overloading and late schedule of trains caused huge suffering to the holidaymakers on their return journeys on Saturday. 聽聽
All government and non-government offices, banks and factories will reopen today after a 10-day holiday for Eid-ul-Azha.
Huge traffic gridlocks stretched for several kilometres and slow movement of vehicles were reported on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge and the Dhaka-Rangpur national highways, connected by the Jamuna Bridge, throughout Saturday due to some accidents and increased number of Dhaka-bound traffic.
Pressure of vehicles was also seen on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway and Dhaka-Sylhet national highway on the day.聽聽
In Sirajganj, agitated passengers vandalised five Dhaka-bound buses as the staff members were charging much higher fares.
Some passengers were also seen travelling by goods-laden vehicles illegally on northern routes due to higher bus fares.
Some trains on northern routes ran late on the day with huge crowds in all Dhaka-bound ones.
Overcrowded launches and ferries were seen coming to Dhaka from different southern, western, and northern districts.聽
A huge presence of Dhaka-bound people kept different districts and the capital鈥檚 train stations, bus and launch terminals crowded throughout the day.
During the return journey, most of the people were seen not wearing masks flouting the government directive to prevent the spread of the new variant of coronavirus in the country.
Eid-ul-Azha, one of the largest religious festivals of Muslims, was celebrated in the country on June 7. The 10-day holiday began on June 5.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Sirajgnaj reported that an over 30-kilometre traffic gridlock was seen on both sides of Jamuna Bridge in the morning following four accidents and an increased number of Dhaka-bound vehicles.
A 17-km traffic gridlock and a slow pace of vehicles were seen from Saydabad roundabout to the Border Bazar in Sirajganj via Konabari.
After 5:30pm, the situation started to improve somewhat while the traffic congestion was reduced to 5-km area, said Kodda traffic out-post in-charge and district traffic division in-charge inspector Mofakkharul Islam.
The police and army members were seen tackling the situation on the roads.
On Saturday, 38,564 vehicles crossed the Jamuna Bridge from both sides between 12:00am and 6:00pm and 49,182 vehicles crossed the bridge on Friday, said Md Sheikh Farid, Bangladesh Bridge Authority鈥檚 assistant engineer at the Jamuna Bridge site office.聽
Agitated passengers vandalised five Dhaka-bound buses, including four of Ovi Enterprise, at around 3:30pm at the Ovi Enterprise bus counter at Kodda crossing of Saydabad in Sirajganj for charging extra fares.
An agitated passenger, seeking anonymity, alleged that the bus staff were charging Tk 1,000 instead of the regular fare of Tk 300 for Kodda (Sirajganj)-Dhaka and Tk 800 instead of regular Tk 200 for Kodda-Chandura routes.
Superintendent of police Md Faruk Hossain said that they had increased security on the highway and the police were probing the vandalism incident.
The district administration is also investigating the incident, said Sirajganj deputy commissioner Muhammad Nazrul Islam.
Our correspondent in Tangail reported that a traffic jam of about 17 kilometres was created on the Tangail section of the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway from Jamuna Bridge to Pungli in the morning.
Till 5:00pm on the day, vehicles were seen moving slowly on the highway鈥檚 25km area on the Tangail section amid huge suffering of the passengers and the transport workers.
Police said that the number of vehicles increased since Friday evening and an accident occurred on the bridge early Saturday.
Jamuna Bridge East Police Station officer-in-charge Faiz Ahmed said that the road accident had caused traffic congestion while Jamuna Bridge West Police Station officer-in-charge Asaduzzaman Asad blamed the increased traffic for the situation.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Munshiganj reported that the number of Dhaka-bound vehicles increased on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway.
On Saturday, 28,238 vehicles crossed the Padma Bridge from both sides between 12:00am and 6:00pm and 38,781 vehicles crossed the bridge on Friday, said Abu Sayed, BBA executive engineer for the Padma Bridge site office.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Sylhet also reported that the number of Dhaka-bound vehicles increased on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Barishal reported that a huge crowd was seen on the road and water transports on the Barishal-Dhaka route.
Barishal River Port officer Selim Reza said that, instead of two regular launches, 12 launches were heading towards Dhaka Saturday night from the river port.
Habib Akon, a Dhaka-bound passenger, said that he had to pay Tk 400, instead of the usual fare of Tk 200, for a place on the deck.
Bus owners said that about 200 buses run on normal days on Dhaka-Barishal route but now over 500 buses are struggling to carry passengers.
Our correspondent in Manikganj reported that several thousand people from different southwestern and north-western districts crossed the rivers using Kazirhat-Aricha and Daulatdia-Paturia ferry routes by ferries, speedboats and launches since morning.
Passengers alleged that, due to the demand, the staff of Selfie, Nilachal and Padma Line transports were charging Tk 300 instead of Tk 200 on Paturia-Uthuli crossing to Dhaka.
Different trains from different districts to the Dhaka rail station in the capital鈥檚 Kamalapur area were seen packed with passengers on the day.
Ekota Express on the Dhaka-Panchagarh route was running about two and a half hours and Rangpur Express on the Dhaka-Rangpur and Silkcity Express on the Dhaka-Rajshahi routes were seen running about one and a half hours behind their schedules.
Buses from different parts of the country reached the inter-district bus terminals at Gabtoli, Saidabad and Mohakhali in Dhaka on the day.
Thousands of passengers arrived at the capital鈥檚 Sadarghat launch terminal from different southern and western districts of the country as they returned to Dhaka by launch after enjoying Eid-ul-Azha with their near and dear ones at their ancestral homes in the districts.
