Gazipur’s Chandra sees huge rush of home-going crowds

Thousands of holidaymakers, mostly garment workers, were seen waiting for vehicles at Gazipur's Chandra to reach their destinations in the country's northern region.

As offices and garment factories will be closed for the Eid from tomorrow, a large number of people are leaving Dhaka and adjacent areas to celebrate Eid-ul-fitr with their families in villages.  

While visiting Dhaka-Tangail highway around 8:00am, Our photojournalist Palash Khan saw people with heavy luggage coming to Chandra from different parts of Dhaka, Savar and other nearby areas via whatever vehicles they could avail, especially motorcycles and auto-rickshaws.

Many of them reached Chandra on foot.

From Chandra, they are taking goods-carrying trucks, pick-up vans and motorcycles. Many of them were seen renting private cars in groups.

Low-income people are bearing the brunt as they have to pay extra or almost double than the usual for the journeys.

Many motorcycles were seen carrying four people, putting lives at risk.

Abdul Hye and his wife – both workers of a garment factory in Savar – along with their child got on a motorcycle at Chandra for going to Bogura, at Tk 1,800.

Pick-up van drivers are charging Tk 500 per person for travelling from Chandra to Sirajganj district.

Talking to this correspondent, a woman said she was going to Natore by a pick-up van at Tk 1,000.

Whenever a vehicle stops at Chandra, hundreds of people are running towards it to reserve seats. And taking the advantage, the drivers are charging them extra.

Pick-up vans are carrying passengers in the back more than its capacity, which may cause accidents.

The government had suspended inter-district public transport and asked all to stay at their present location to check the spread of Covid-19, but the move did little to stop the desperate home-goers from embarking on the difficult journey.