Staff Reporter:
When Ferdousi Mahal and her daughter Nafisa Nur arrived at Kalyanpur bus terminal on the morning of 15 March with two pre-booked tickets for Rajshahi, they were told their bus had been cancelled. By Tuesday evening, they were still without replacement tickets and had been forced to hire a microbus with other stranded passengers just to get home.
Grameen Travels had called her in the middle of the night to warn of the cancellation, but the call came from an unrecognised number and went unanswered. The company later said the trip was cancelled due to a fuel shortage and promised a refund of Tk3,200. The money has not arrived. “I am yet to manage a bus ticket as all the tickets were sold in advance,” she said.
Hundreds of passengers at Kalyanpur and Gabtoli found themselves in similar straits on Tuesday. Transport operators cancelled services citing the fuel crisis, while on routes where tickets were still available, passengers alleged they were being charged well above the printed fare.
Complaints were raised against Shyamoli NR Travels, Grameen Travels and others. Passenger Anowar Hossain said RP Express charged him Tk1,200 for a Dhaka-Rajshahi ticket, against a regular fare of Tk700.
A joint mobile court operation by the district administration and RAB-11 at Shimrail Mor and Kanchpur on Tuesday found evidence of systematic overcharging, fining Nilachal Paribahan Tk4,300 and Econo Paribahan Tk4,200. RAB said such operations would continue throughout the Eid period. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam, however, saw things differently.
“Nearly 15 million people have already left Dhaka for their respective destinations within a short period of time,” he said.
The minister described the journey as smooth and said there was no scope for overcharging. He announced that work to widen the Bhanga-Barishal highway would begin soon.
On the roads
Ongoing development works have narrowed key routes at precisely the moment demand is at its peak, turning what should be festive journeys into ordeals measured in hours of lost time.
Within Dhaka, road-digging along Pragati Sarani for a Dhaka WASA transmission line project and Bus Rapid Transit construction at Abdullahpur have created severe bottlenecks at the capital’s main exit points. Elevated expressway construction along the Abdullahpur-Ashulia section has added further pressure.
The Dhaka-Sylhet highway – a 209kms stretch through Narayanganj, Narsingdhi, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria, Habiganj and Moulvibazar – has become one of the worst routes for Eid travellers.
Six-lane expansion works, under way for several years, have left long stretches of the road cut up and cluttered with construction material. A journey normally taking five to six hours now consumes eight to nine.
Police identified 43 critically slow-moving spots along the route, where buses, CNG auto-rickshaws and easy bikes merge without controls. A five-kilometre tailback formed on the Gazipur-Chandra section on Tuesday after garment factories announced their Eid holiday.
On the Dhaka-Kuakata route, passengers clear early congestion at Jatrabari and Jurain only to find the road beyond Bhanga narrow, potholed and shared without separation between fast buses and slow-moving vans, tomtoms and easy bikes, a recipe for both delays and accidents.
The Dhaka-Chattogram highway is under its own strain. The approach road from Banasree to Kanchpur via Sarulia is dangerously narrow, while manual toll collection at river bridge booths is creating long queues before vehicles even reach the open highway.
The road transport and bridges minister, who inspected the Dhaka-Barishal road on Tuesday, acknowledged its limitations. “It needs to be widened further. The government already has a plan and you will receive good news soon,” he said.
An aerial view shows homebound passengers travelling on the rooftop of a launch departing Sadarghat Launch Terminal in Dhaka on Tuesday, heading home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr. (Inset) People crowd the terminal. Reaz Ahmed Sumon
On the rivers
While the roads groaned, Sadarghat offered a comparatively smoother picture. The launch terminal came alive with homebound passengers on Tuesday as the Eid rush arrived in force, with vessels departing continuously for Barishal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna and other coastal districts.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) reported around 40 departures by noon, with the total expected to reach 70 to 75 by day’s end. Passengers who arrived early secured seats without complaint over fares, which have been held at fixed rates.
Abdullah, travelling to Bhola with his family, said the terminal was packed but orderly. “We would not have gotten tickets if we had not come early,” he said.
Mofizul Islam, manager of Sundarban-16 launch, said, “The scene at Sadarghat has completely transformed. We are struggling to manage the rush.”
The directives against overcharging and harassment were being strictly enforced, he added.
Fares on the Dhaka-Barishal route stand at Tk300 for deck, Tk1,200 for a single cabin, Tk2,400 for a double cabin and Tk6,000 to Tk10,000 for VIP cabins.
The Dhaka-Muladi and Bhasanchar route charges Tk400 for deck and Tk1,000 to Tk2,000 for cabins.
The Chandpur route is Tk200 for deck and Tk500 to Tk2,000 for cabins. No significant fare complaints were reported on the day.
To ease pressure on Sadarghat, BIWTA added six launch services from Bosila Ghat and three from Shimulia Tourist Ghat.
Free porter services, trolleys and wheelchairs were available at Sadarghat for five days before and five days after Eid.
BIWTA Joint Director Md Mubarak Hossain said loudspeaker announcements were being made to prevent overloading and that vigilance against cabin ticket black-marketing was being maintained.
Security measures
With an estimated 1.75 crore people leaving Dhaka for Eid, law enforcers have warned that the city they leave behind will be vulnerable.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) deployed 32 teams under a three-layer security plan at key terminals, with civil, patrol and checkpost units operating around the clock and six intelligence teams were made active in the field.
Control rooms at Sadarghat and Sayedabad bus terminal remained open 24 hours for passengers to report harassment or overcharging.
RAB-10 Commanding Officer Additional DIG Mohammad Kamruzzaman said the security posture would be maintained through Eid and beyond.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Md Ali Hossain Fakir said all units across the country had been instructed to ensure safe travel.
DMP Commissioner Md Sarwar, acknowledging manpower constraints, urged residents to stay alert and report suspicious activity.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Talebur Rahman said extra officers had been deployed at bus and train stations with mobile teams and checkposts protecting both travellers and the properties of those who have left.
At Sadarghat, Coast Guard members were checking bags at entry points and before boarding throughout Tuesday morning, with river police also on duty.
Waterway patrols around the terminal had been intensified.
State Minister for Shipping Md Rajib Ahsan, visiting Shimulia Tourist Ghat on Tuesday, instructed authorities to be more proactive in managing crowds and strengthening security for the duration of the Eid travel period.
