Mass exodus of holidaymakers from the capital begins

Holidaymakers  leaving the capital city to various destinations across the country to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha experienced a mixed feelings on Thursday.
There was no extra pressure of traffic on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway ahead of the Eid as holidaymakers rush back to their native villages. Abul Hossain, Executive Engineer of the Padma Bridge, confirmed the matter to media on Thursday.
Meanwhile,      vehicles without fitness on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge highway have created a 25-km gridlock from the Bangabandhu Bridge (east) to Rabna, according to police.
Following the tailback, Eid home-goers, especially children, are facing a tough journey. Vehicles without fitness are to blame for the traffic jams on the road during Eid, police said.
They have turned the two-lane road from Elenga to Bangabandhu Bridge into a one-way road to ease traffic. The north-bound vehicles are going towards the bridge from Elenga while the Dhaka-bound vehicles from the road are entering the capital through Elenga via Bhuyapur.
"Some vehicles without fitness broke down on the road which created the tailback. Traffic movement went normal as the day progressed," said Bangabandhu Bridge East Police OC Shafiqul Islam.
Bangladesh will celebrate Eid-ul-Azha on Sunday. Thursday is the last working day ahead of the festival. As a result, the exodus of homebound travellers from Dhaka started yesterday, ahead of the long weekend.
All vehicles travelling from Dhaka to the north of the country must cross the river Jamuna using the Bangabandhu Bridge via Tangail. This is also the route used by vehicles transporting sacrificial animals to the capital from the north.
The number of vehicles on the Tangail highway has multiplied since the morning, said Superintendent of Police Mohammad Kaiser. "The traffic will increase in the afternoon. We have taken the necessary steps to ease the suffering of passengers."
With Bangladesh in the grip of the Eid rush, commuters heading home faced a harrowing time on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Thursday.
The stretch from Tongi to Chandona intersection of the high-speed corridor witnessed the maximum snarls due to the mad rush of vehicles carrying home-bound people ahead of the festival.
On the highway across Gazipur district, bumper-to-bumper traffic at Bhogra bypass point, Board Bazar, Tongi Bazar and Station Road.
Traffic situation on the Dhaka-Tangail highway to Chandra Trimore was the same this morning -- gridlocks and tailbacks at different places of the high-speed corridor.
Passengers and motorists claimed it was taking them nearly four hours to reach the Gazipur intersection from the Mohakhali bus terminal. At some places, people had to waiting for hours to get a public transport.
Abdullah Al Mamun, Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police (Traffic), said that already steps have been taken to mitigate the sufferings of the home-bound people on the highways in Gazipur. "Extra policemen have been deployed to ensure the security of the commuters as well."
The government's decision to impose complete ban on motorcycles on highways ahead of Eid-ul-Azha will compel Eid holidaymakers to face more hassle on their journey home, Road Safety Foundation said in a statement on Tuesday.
Despite the ongoing indiscipline and mismanagement in the public transport sector, the authorities have not yet taken any fruitful measures to this end. There is much need to expand the scopes and enhance the services of BRTC buses across the country, which, however, in a limbo due to illogical demands of the private bus owners, the statement, undersigned by the foundation's Chairman Prof AI Mahbub Uddin Ahmed and Executive Director Saidur Rahman, said.
On the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, the crowd of homebound people was less in the Sadarghat terminal area of Dhaka river port on Thursday morning. However, the pressure of the passengers has been increasing since noon.
Meanwhile, despite the pressure of passengers on the Chandpur waterway in the morning, the number of passengers on several routes including Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Jhalokati, Pirojpur, Amtali, Barguna and Hularhat in the south was less.
Trains passengers, who bought advance tickets  left Dhaka mainly through Kamalapur Railway Station on Thursday.