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Eid home-goers on risky trips

Battered highways, inadequate railway arrangements, overcrowding of launches to make journeys troublesome

M Abul Kalam Azad and Pankaj Karmakar
With the Eid rush reaching its peak today, the city dwellers' journey home will be far from hassle-free, as the authorities appear to have failed to check overloading and plying of rundown vehicles.
The risks and sufferings will be much more for those travelling by launches that carry passengers double or even triple their capacity during the Eid rush.
And bus journey will not be smooth either for poor condition of highways and roadside cattle markets.
All trains, buses and launches leaving the capital were crammed with passengers yesterday, and the rush would increase further today, the last working day before the Eid-ul-Azha on Monday.
An estimated 70 lakh city dwellers leave for home on the eve of Eid. But transports available don't have the capacity to carry them home, leading to chaos and miseries of passengers.
HIGHWAYS
It will be a major challenge for the authorities to prevent dilapidated vehicles from plying the highways during the Eid rush.
Thousands of unfit vehicles from rural areas hit the highways ahead of
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Eid. At times, they break down causing long tailbacks within minutes.
Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on Dhaka-Tangail highway for hours on Sunday and Monday after three trucks went out of order on the road, reports our Tangail correspondent.
Vehicular movement slowed down on the two-lane highway as more vehicles, including buses and cattle-carrying trucks, hit the motorway on Tuesday night. Around 500 policemen were working there to ensure uninterrupted vehicular movement.
On average, 20,000 vehicles ply the highway to 10 northern districts and five southern districts. Many others go to Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sherpur and Netrakona through the highway every day. But the number doubles ahead of Eid.
Outdated and unfit buses hit highways before Eid every year and many of those break down or face accidents, leading to gridlock, said Osman Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Sarak
Paribahan Sramik Federation.
Journey time is likely to be longer for people travelling on Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways for ongoing expansion work.
Contractors, who are to suspend work during Eid holidays, have piled up construction materials on the highways, disrupting vehicular movement.
According to our Gazipur correspondent, vehicular movement was slow on the battered highway from Joydevpur to Mawna. Moreover, the vehicles had to change lanes at many points due to expansion work on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
Before the vehicles reached the highway, they faced a chaotic situation on the road from Tongi bridge to Joydevpur intersection. A half-an-hour journey took up to two hours.
Vehicles travelling to Sylhet via Tongi are likely to face a similar situation, as the road is very narrow and in a bad shape.
Chittagong-bound vehicles may face tailbacks at Kanchpur, Sonargaon,
Signboard and Sanarpar after crossing chaotic Sayedabad and Jatrabari areas.
Amin Bazar as well as Savar Bazar will be major bottlenecks for those travelling to southern and northern districts.
LAUNCHES
The latest shipping ministry circular allowing launches to carry equal number of passengers both in day and at night will encourage launch operators to carry more passengers this time.
"I think the government has introduced the new rule to legitimise overloading of launches,'1 said water transport expert Mir Tareque Ali, professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
Every year, the government forms monitoring committees for checking overloading of launches but they don't work.
Seeking anonymity, an official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), said, "No system or rule works in the two or three days ahead of Eid because of massive rush
of passengers. What can we do?"
All launches that left the capital's Sadarghat terminal yesterday were crowded with passengers. Many of whom were on roofs of the launches, which is not permitted by rules.
TRAINS
Thousands of people eager to travel home by train before Eid face the same old ticket crisis. The railway's passenger-carrying capacity remains the same while the number of passengers has risen steadily.
Ahead of Eid, around one lakh people will be transported by 46 trains - 29 intercity and 18 mail and commuter trains - that operate daily from Dhaka to different districts.
In addition, around 12,000 passengers are likely to travel standing inside coaches or sitting on the roof of trains, say railway officials.
Three special intercity trains will run on Khulna, Parbatipur and Jamalpur routes on October 3,4 and 5. But they will hardly be able to handle the pressure of large number of passengers.
The railway authorities have put
restrictions on plying of freight trains for three days before Eid.
FERRYSERVICE
As in the past, congestion at ferry terminals is a big headache for the authorities this time as a limited number of ferries is unable to transport so many vehicles.
A total of 18 ferries will operate on Paturia-Daulatdia route and 16 on Mawa-Kawrakandi route, while the number of vehicles on the routes is likely to more than double today.
Usually, 700-800 vehicles cross Mawa-Kawrakandi route every day, but the number exceeds the 2,000 mark during Eid, said Sirajul Haq, BIWTC manager atMawa.
At least 150 vehicles were in a queue for ferries at Mawa yesterday afternoon, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.
Navigability problem on Mawa-Kawrakandi route is another major concern for the authorities as it may disruptferryservice.
More than 50 buses and 100 trucks remained stranded at Paturia.