Rain, jam disrupt home journey of Eid holidaymakers in Bangladesh

Long tailbacks and incessant rain yesterday caused untold sufferings to thousands of people heading home to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha.

Bus passengers from Dhaka had to suffer first to reach terminals, then to cross the city's exit points and finally on the highways.

Many got drenched in the rain before boarding buses, launches and trains.

According to the Met office, the rain is likely to continue in many places across the country in the next three days.

The home rush will gain greater momentum during this time.

The Daily Star talked to several home-goers who suffered on the road yesterday.

“My two children and I are already soaked to the skin. This is how we are going on a journey of over 250 kilometres. And quite naturally we are worried,” Nazrul Islam, who works in a private firm, said before getting into a Rajshahi-bound bus at Kalyanpur around noon.

  Passengers got stuck at different exit points of the capital like Gabtoli and Abdullahpur of Uttara due to huge traffic congestion and haphazard vehicular movements.

"Our bus left Mohakhali around 9:00am and it took more than two hours to cross Uttara,” said Kalimullah, a businessman travelling to Naogaon.

Even Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said Gabtoli and Abdullahpur points were two major sources of sufferings for the home-goers after the minister himself remained stuck there for about half an hour on Thursday and Friday, despite having police protocol.

“I have ordered the authorities to take steps for dealing with the chaotic situation at Gabtoli and Abdullahpur,” he told The Daily Star over the phone.

The minister will visit Gabtoli today to observe the situation and will give directives to the police authorities and others concerned for taking necessary measures to smoothen vehicular movement through this point, says a ministry press release.

The Eid holidaymakers, who travelled to northern districts and the districts in Chittagong division, had to spend hours in tailbacks on Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Chittagong highways yesterday. Passengers there had similar experiences in the last two days.

From 6:00am to 10:00am yesterday, hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the Dhaka-Tangail highway from Chandra Intersection of Gazipur to Mirzapur in Tangail.

"I started from Dhaka's Mohakhali around 9:00am. It took six hours to reach Tangail town as my bus got stuck at many points,” said Shiblee Ahmed, a passenger.

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck on either side of Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Daudkandi of Comilla in the early hours of yesterday. Drivers blamed the tailback there on cratered highway.  

Highway police said torrential rain, huge traffic flow ahead of the Eid and haphazard movement of cattle-laden vehicles were the reasons behind the gridlocks.

Commuter Mohammad Asaduzzaman along with his brother and uncle had to wait for more than two hours at Patuaria launch ghat in Manikganj.

“I went to the ghat around 9:00am and could not board a ferry before 11:00am. Had there been no rain, life could be much easier,” he told The Daily Star later.

Hundreds of other passengers there had similar experiences.

People who left Dhaka by trains and launches suffered comparatively less as most of those were on schedule.

[Our district correspondents contributed to the report]