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Eid Rush for Home

Long tailbacks delay trips

Staff Correspondent
The second day of the weekend before the government holiday for Eid and Puja fared no better than the first, with day-long tailbacks blocking two major routes out of the capital yesterday.
Many decided not to work on the lone working day of the week today and go on a nine-day vacation.
People heading home and truckers on Dhaka-Mawa-Kawrakandi route got the worst, with holdups on the highway and on ferries.
The siltation of the Padma narrowed down the Lauhajung turn, reducing the channel width to allow only one ferry to pass at a time. Ferries had to wait for up to an hour in queue as they took turns to cross the channel.
Besides, a queue formed on the highway, comprised mainly of over 500 trucks carrying sacrificial animals for Eid-ul-Azha next week.
Jasim Miah driving a cow-laden truck told The Daily Star that the ferries take too much time to cross.
Passengers choosing to skip the ferry and cross the river by launch complained of launches taking more load than they were allowed to. They also reported that the speedboat service was charging higher prices than normal, taking advantage of the fix the passengers were in.
Shiuli Das, a passenger travelling from Dhaka to Kawrakandi on speedboat, told The Daily Star that she was a victim of the spiked fare.
"All the vehicles on this route are charging more than normal," said Ishaq Chowdhury, a passenger going to Khulna from Dhaka.
Meanwhile, a broken down truck at Hatikumrul intersection of Sirajganj triggered a gridlock on Bangabandhu Bridge that stretched for almost 16 kilometres.
The truck broke down at 4:00am but it took police until noon to untangle the traffic jam, Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Ali Farid Ahmed of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station told The Daily Star. Mohammad Shahinur Rahman, a conductor of Pabna Express, said the journey from Dhaka took over 10 hours.
Sources said the travel time for Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Sylhet remained almost the same, except for some minor jams.
Launches at Sadarghat terminal in the capital yesterday were seen to have more passengers than their capacity.
Passengers complained of being overcharged and some launch employees used the excuse that the launches would return to the capital almost empty.
Launch workers said the rush of passengers was at least twice that of the last few days and it would worsen in the coming days after garment factories close for the holidays on October 14.