The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mamunur Rashid

Bus, launch terminals and train stations in the city witnessed a huge crowd on Tuesday, three days ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, with tens of thousands of people leaving the city to celebrate the holy occasion with their near and dear ones.

The traffic movement in the city was seriously disrupted despite the introduction of automatic traffic signalling at the crossings.

Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated next Saturday and on the occasion Friday, Saturday and Sunday are Government holidays.

Tens of thousands of people yesterday crowded the Sadarghat launch terminal, Kamalapur Railway Station and all the inter-district bus terminals in the city to celebrate the great occasion with members of their families.

A total of 100 double-decker and triple-decker vessels are expected to leave the Sadarghat terminal by Tuesday evening on 39 routes of the southern region, sources in the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority said.

People in their hundreds from different parts of the city rushed to the Sadarghat terminal facing all odds.

They went to the launch terminal on foot, by rickshaw, CNG-run auto-rickshaw, taxicab and private car and microbuses.

The middle and upper class passengers mainly booked cabins earlier by paying Tk 500 to Tk 800 extra over the actual fare, while the poor class and lower middle-class people jostled for a little space on the launch decks.

A large number of rivesine vessels were kept anchored in the river Buriganga forcing the people to get on boats to reach the launches risking accidents.

Cabin fare of launches is become higher than the regular charge during the Eid festival, while the deck fare is almost equal to the fare charged round the year, owners and passengers said.

Eid passengers crowd bus terminals as usual to reach their respective destinations. At Sayedabad terminal, people were seen bargaining on fare.

The law enforcing agencies set up camps at Sayedabad bus terminal and one each at Mohakhali and Gabtali terminals to ensure security for homebound people.

Most of the people gathered at the Gabtali terminal for journey to the southwest region of the country. Passengers heading towards Satkhira, Jessore, Khulna, Bagerhat, Kushtia and Chuadanga suffered most as many of them failed to book tickets in advance.

A number of buses that used to ply on other routes started trips to Comilla and other adjacent districts cashing in on the rush of passengers.

Abdul Malek, a Satkhira-bound passenger, told the New Nation, 'Normally, the fare for the distance is Tk 300. But they were demanding Tk 500 as fare.'

A good many buses were found taking in passengers some 200 yards away from the Sayedabad terminal yesterday. They were charging increased fare from the passengers.

The situation in the Kamalapur Railway Station was different as most of the passengers booked advance tickets.