Eid home-goers were faced with a series of disruptions in ferry services while travelling to the southern districts and in train schedules on their way to the northern districts.
As Eid exodus from Dhaka began since Wednesday, the challenges en route to their village and district homes added to their woes.
The movement of all ferries, launches and speedboats on Shimulia-Kathalbari water route in Munshiganj closed down on the day following strong current in the River Padma.
On the first day of Bangladesh Railway’s Eid special service passengers suffered almost all day on different routes as some trains ran behind schedule.
People were also seen to have left the capital on long-route buses at different inter-district terminals.
New Age correspondent in Munshiganj reported that on the day at 12:00pm, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation announced to stop movement of all 19 ferries, 87 launches and more than 500 speedboats on Shimulia-Kathalbari route due to strong current at the foreshore of the river.
Due to strong current since Tuesday night ferry service was disrupted on the route while on Wednesday the 2, 3 and 4 no pontoons of the ghat dislocated.
At Shimulia ghat area several hundred vehicles were waiting to cross the river for travelling to the southern districts till writing of this report at 7:00pm.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority Shimulia ghat shipping inspector Md Solaiman said the service would be resumed when the weather would become normal.
Our Correspondent in Manikganj reported that ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route was normal on the day while huge pressure of vehicles was seen on the route as Shimulia-Kathalbari route was closed down.
On Wednesday, many people rushed to the Kamalapur railway station while since morning some trains were running behind their schedules.
The Nilsagar express on Dhaka-Nilphamari route left the Kamalapur station at 9:00am, which was scheduled to start from Dhaka at 8:25am.
Till 5:30pm the train was running 2:43 hours behind the schedule.
The Rangpur Express, one of the most popular train services on the Dhaka-Rangpur route, started from the station around 10:00am, which was scheduled to start from Dhaka at 9:00am.
The train was running 2:23 hours behind the schedule.
The Kishoreganj Express on Dhaka-Kishoreganj route was running late by 2:20 hours.
On Dhaka-Rajshahi route, the Silk City Express left Kamalapur at 4:00pm instead of the scheduled starting time of 2:40pm while on Dhaka-Khulna route, Sundarban Express, left the station at 8:00am instead of schedule starting time of 6:20am.
Besides these, Upakul Express and Jamalpur Commuter trains were also running late.
The disruption in the schedule added to the home-goers woes.
Shakina, along with her sister-in-law, was waiting for Jamalpur Commuter and told New Age that they bought standing tickets as there were no tickets for seats.
Kamalapur Station manager Md Aminul Haque said that the rush of homebound people would increase from Thursday afternoon.
Some trains were running behind schedule as passengers were taking much time to board the trains, he added.
At capital’s Gabtoli, Mohakhali and Saydabad bus terminals some people were seen to get on buses while no major allegations of traffic congestion on major highways were reported.
August 8 will be followed by two-day weekly holiday and the first working day is August would fall on 14 followed by the three-day Eid-ul-Azha vacation that begins on August 11. August 15 (Thursday) is a public holiday followed by a two-day weekly holiday.
