Sayedabad sees rush of homebound passengers

The Sayedabad Bus Terminal in Dhaka has been witnessing crowds of homebound passengers today, even the day after Eid-ul-Fitr.

According to passengers, the rush remains visible at the bus terminal as those who were unable to leave Dhaka before the festival due to urgent needs or lack of leaves were seen making their way home today.

Besides, many others were heading outside Dhaka to visit relatives during the holiday, they said.

The Daily Star found this scenario during a visit to the Sayedabad Bus Terminal this afternoon.

However, transport officials said the holidaymakers who travelled home before Eid have not started returning to Dhaka yet in significant numbers.

Transport officials mentioned that there were passengers even on Eid day, but the number is higher today.

Around 2:00pm, passengers were seen waiting in front of the traffic police box at Jatrabari intersection and in front of Jatrabari Police Station.

However, the number of available vehicles were lower compared to the number of passengers.

At that time, when a Tisha Paribahan bus on the Dhaka-Comilla route arrived at Jatrabari intersection, passengers rushed to get onboard.

Passengers were also seen crowding around bus counters at Janapath Mor in Sayedabad. However, there were sufficient vehicles available in the Sayedabad area.

Golam Mostafa, who came from Kamalapur, said, "I am travelling with my entire family to visit my sister's house in Comilla."

Asifur Rahman, a resident of Gopibagh, is from Khulna. He said, "I am in the clothing business. I sent my family to the village earlier. I am going today. There are enough buses, but fares are slightly higher. I'll check and choose wisely."

Ukil Ali, a counterman of Unique Paribahan, said, "Those who didn't get leave before Eid or were busy with business are now travelling. There has been a moderate crowd of passengers since morning. There were passengers yesterday, too, but today there are more."

He further mentioned, "People who travelled home before Eid have not yet started returning to Dhaka. We expect them to start coming back in full swing from Thursday."