Although long-haul bus services remained suspended since early last month, it had very little impact on the number of vehicles which travelled between Dhaka and the north-western districts via Bangabandhu Bridge last month.

Around 5.72 lakh vehicles crossed the country's largest bridge in April, down from 6.14 lakh the previous month, according to the monthly traffic report released by Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA).

Some 3.10 lakh vehicles used the bridge in April last year amid suspension of public transport services, shows the report.

The number of cars and motorcycles using Bangabandhu Bridge saw a sharp rise during the "lockdown" as these light vehicles apparently replaced buses as modes of transport, sources said.

The government had imposed restrictions on the movement of people and public transport from April 5 to contain the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Operations of long-haul buses, passenger trains and launches resumed yesterday, a day after the government issued a circular lifting the restrictions for a week.

The notice said all public transport will operate during this period at half capacity following health safety rules.

WHAT BBA REPORTS SHOW?

Bangabandhu Bridge on the Jamuna River connects the capital with the north and north-western districts of the country with road and rail links.

The bridge authority earned Tk 49.18 crore last month as toll, down from Tk 59.02 crore in March.

The amount was Tk 27.58 crore in April last year. Operation of public transport remained suspended for around two months from March 26 last year to contain the spread of the virus.

Sources said around 3,500 to 3,800 buses use Bangabandhu Bridge daily in normal time, meaning 1.05 lakh to 1.15 lakh buses cross the bridge a month.

Around 3,500 to 4,000 cars cross the bridge daily in normal time, but the number increased by 2.5 to 3 times during the "lockdown". The number of motorcycles went up manifold, they said.

The number of vehicles increased further early this month as the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, which was celebrated on May 14, approached nearer. But the data for this month is not available yet as BBA releases statistics monthly.

However, the bridge saw a new record in transport movement and toll collection in 24 hours till 6:00am on May 13.

The highest 52,730 vehicles crossed the bridge during the period and Tk 2.99 crore was received as tolls, Ahsanul Kabir Pavel, executive engineer of BBA, had said at that time.

The situation was almost the same at Mukterpur Bridge on Dhaka-Munshiganj highway, the second bridge operated by BBA.

The authority earned tolls of Tk 1.51 crore in April, down from Tk 1.90 crore in March. The amount was Tk 0.83 crore in April last year, according to BBA data.

BUS, TRAIN, LAUNCH SERVICES RESUME

Inter-district bus, train and launch services resumed yesterday across the country.

Khandakar Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners' Association, said they have instructed all their members to ensure that no passenger boards buses without his face being masked.

The association has deployed people at the bus terminals in Dhaka to monitor whether anyone was violating the government instructions, he told The Daily Star.

Visiting Gabtoli, Shyamoli, Kalyanpur and Mirpur Mazar Road in the capital yesterday, The Daily Star correspondent found that transport workers asking passengers through loudspeakers to wear masks before getting on buses.

The number of passengers was less than the transport owners expected, Suvenker Ghosh Rakesh, joint secretary of Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association, said.

"We hope the number will increase gradually," Suvenker, also the managing director of Shyamoly NR Travels, told this correspondent.

Yesterday, railway authorities resumed operations of 37 pairs of passenger trains.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan visited Kamalapur Railway Station to monitor whether all government instructions were followed properly.

Khairul Islam, divisional transport officer (Dhaka) of Bangladesh Railway, said eight trains left Dhaka as of 7:00pm, maintaining social distancing and health safety rules.

Tickets of around 40 percent seats were sold yesterday, another BR official said.

Launch services also resumed from Sadarghat Launch Terminal in Dhaka and other launch terminals across the country.

Joynal Abedin, joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), said launches operated from Sadarghat terminal since 6:00am.

 He said they were working to make sure that all government instructions were followed.