"When will our bus arrive?" little Rayan asked his father impatiently.
The six-year-old boy grew restless after waiting for more than three hours at the capital's Gabtoli bus terminal.
As he repeatedly asked the same question, his father, Mahmud Chowdhury, tried to calm him, saying the bus would arrive soon.
Before leaving home around 7:00am, Rayan was excited about visiting his grandparents' house in Khulna and meeting his cousins after a long time. But the long wait at the terminal seemed to have dampened his mood.
Their bus was scheduled to depart Gabtoli at 8:30am. But the vehicle, which was making a round trip, was still near Savar around 12:30pm.
"I don't know when it will arrive [at Gabtoli] and when we will reach our village home,' said Mahmud, with worries written all over his face.
Anxious faces like that of his were everywhere at bus terminals in the capital yesterday as tens of thousands braving sufferings on the highways started leaving for their village homes to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha with their loved ones.
Yesterday was the last working day for government employees before the Eid. They will enjoy a six-day vacation since the government announced a public holiday for September 11, the only workingday before the Eid holiday.
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Long tailbacks on Dhaka-Tangail, Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways and disruption of ferry services due to strong current in the Padma caused sufferings to the home-goers heading for different districts.
Around 60-65 lakh people leave the city to celebrate the Eid at their village homes. Of them, around 45 lakh travel by bus, about five lakh by train and around 12 lakh by launch, according to a rough estimate of transport operators and Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association.
The number of city residents is 1.41 crore, shows Urban Area Report 2014 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
At Paturia ferry ghat, around 500 vehicles were waiting to cross the river in the afternoon. Thirteen of the 19 ferries are operating now.
Though all four ferry landing stations in Paturia were in operation, ferry
service was disrupted due to strong current, reports our Manikganj correspondent.
The situation forced many of the bus operators to arrange launches for their passengers to cross the river. The passengers then board another bus of the same company, said bus operators.
As in the past, most of the homegoers are travelling by road. But their trips are far from comfortable this time.
Visiting the bus terminals at Gabtoli and Mohakhali, The Daily Star correspondents found hundreds of holidaymakers waiting for buses since morning.
"As the departure time of our bus was 10:00am, we started for Gabtoli from home early, fearing traffic jam. It is already 12:00noon and the bus is yet to arrive," said Shakhawat Hossain, an employee of a private firm, who was going to Joypurhat
with his family.
Like him, more than a hundred passengers were waiting near Hanif Paribahan counter in Balurmath area of Gabtoli.
Passengers travelling to Chittagong, Feni, Comilla, Laxmipur and other adjacent districts suffered the most as buses were delayed by four to five hours since morning.
"I've been waiting for four hours here, but there is no sign of the bus," Arshad Chowdhury, a passenger, told this newspaper at Shyamoli Paribahan's counter in Arambagh around 1:00pm.
Dinesh Das, a staff of Shyamoli Paribahan, said many of their buses remained stranded on Dhaka-Chittagong highway for hours because of long tailbacks in Daudkandi area.
An employee of Ekota Paribahan that plies Dhaka-Bogra route said the bus, which was scheduled to reach at 8:00am, couldn't make it to the terminal till 11:30am.
WORRIES ON HIGHWAYS
On Dhaka-Chittagong highway, a 13-km long gridlock stretching from Meghna bridge to Daudkandi area was created since early morning due to excessive traffic flow, report our correspondents from Munshiganj and Comilla.
Satadal Das, a bus driver of Saudia Paribahan, said he left Chittagong around 12:00am. It took him five hours to reach Daudkandi where he remained stuck till 10:00am.
Till filing of this report at 7:00am, a 30-km long tailback was created from Meghna-Gomati bridge in Comilla to Kanchpur bridge in Narayanganj.
There was a 10-km long tailback from Signboard to Mugrapara in Narayanganj.
On Dhaka-Tangail highway, passengers had to endure immense sufferings as the vehicles were moving very slowly throughout the 64-km road from Chandra in Gazipur to Elenga in Tangail the whole day, reports our
correspondent.
Everyday, 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles use the narrow highway, considered the gateway to the North, to go to more than 20 northern districts, according to highway police and transport operators.
But the number of vehicles goes up to around 35,000 during Eid rush, they said.
On Dhaka-Sylhet highway, a five-km long traffic jam built up in Bhulta area of Narayanganj during the day. It, however, eased in the evening, reports a correspondent.
KAMALAPUR STATION
The picture of Kamalapur railway station was comparatively better as almost all the trains packed with passengers left the station on time.
However, Rajshahi Express got delayed for around one and half hours.
"The train was supposed to leave for Rajshahi at 11:30am. It's now 1:00 pm, and still there is no sign of the train," said an elderly man waiting at the
station with his son.
Most of the home-goers there expressed satisfaction over the train service.
Rabiul Islam, a government official, who boarded Silk City Train to travel to Rajshahi, said "The train is packed with passengers, but I have got my seat and I am happy."
Following the problems at ferry ghats, the railway authorities took an initiative to attach more coaches to Khulna-bound passenger trains, said an official at the station.
Railway officials said 125 trains are making round trips a day.
Meanwhile, rush of passengers at Sadarghat launch terminal was yet to gain momentum. The operators were expecting a huge rush today.
"We have sufficient number of launches to handle the rush," said Badiuzzaman Badal, senior vice-chairman of Bangladesh Inland Waterways (Passenger Carriers) Association.
PHOTOS ON HOME-GOERS' SUFFERINGS -- PAGE 5