Huge tailbacks are reported from highways leading out of Dhaka due to the rush of people leaving the capital city to travel to their home towns and villages on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Adha festival. Bangladesh will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha, the second biggest religious festival of the Muslims, on 17 June.
The Dhaka-Mymensingh highway witnessed over 10 kilometre long tailback on Friday. Various stretches of the highway reported long ques of vehicles leaving Dhaka. The home-goers suffered inordinate delays as traffic crawled on these highway stretches due to heavy rush of vehicles. The eastern side of the Bangabandhu bridge on the Dhaka-Tangail highway also witnessed a long tail back stretching into several kilometres.
Owing to the heavy pressure, the local media reports overcharging of passengers by private buses and transport. Many of the poorer people were seen travelling on trolleys and trucks as they are unable to pay for the fare.
Heavy rush was also reported from ferry terminals and railway stations. Railway officials brought down people from the train-roof as the rush forced people to move to the roof. Earlier in the day, some trains leaving Kamalapur railway station in Dhaka were delayed owing to the rush of the people.
Millions of people leave capital city Dhaka for their home towns and villages during the festival of Eid-Ul-Adha. In contrast to the usual bustle of traffic, roads in the capital city Dhaka are wearing a deserted look ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha festival on Monday.
Navalsang Parmar(Dhaka)
