Bangladesh News Desk: People of south-western districts residing in Dhaka and its adjacent areas have joined the Eid rush for village homes to celebrate the festival with relatives.
Earlier, they used to wait for hours to cross the Padma River on ferries of the Daulatdia-Paturia route. The scenario is in stark contrast this time as the traffic pressure here decreased to a great extent due to the opening of the Padma Bridge.
However, the ferries were taking double time to cross the river due to strong current in the river on Friday.
During a visit to the Daulatdia ghat on Friday, it was seen that an overwhelming number of motorbikes were crossing the river on the ferries, despite a movement ban on motorbikes in place.
Recently, the authorities declared that no motorcycle will be allowed to cross the district boundaries during the Eid holidays.
But the riders were seen travelling to their village homes on motorbikes without facing any hindrance from the authorities on the way on Friday.
A Ro-Ro ferry (big vessel) anchored at ghat no-5 in Daulatdia around 9:00 am. It carried hundreds of motorbikes to Daulatdia while several buses secured their place on the vessel too. Each of the motorbikes was carrying one or two passengers.
Shanto Khan, a biker, was riding from Dhaka towards Khulna to celebrate Eid with family members. He faced no hindrance from the authorities until reaching Daulatdia.
In a conversation with Prothom Alo, he said, “I had initially decided to travel by bus, but failed to avail a ticket. Instead of waiting, I decided that I’ll go home by motorcycle. If the police stop on the way, I’ll see to it then. However, I’ve not faced any obstruction on the way.”
Nazrul Islam, a private job holder, was riding a motorcycle from Gazipur to Rajbari, along with his wife, child, and baggage. While disembarking from a ferry, he said he had no other choice but to travel by motorcycle.
“Most of the buses now operate through the Padma Bridge. Moreover, the buses using this route (Daulatdia-Paturia) do not have any vacant seats. Therefore, I started for home early morning on my motorbike,” Nazrul said.
The ferries were basically carrying thousands of passengers and hundreds of motorbikes, in addition to several buses in each of their trips.
Rakibul Haque, a readymade garments worker, expressed satisfaction over his Eid journey.
“I had to suffer a lot last year. But the journey is satisfactory this time. Most of the people are using the Padma Bridge to go home, which relaxed the pressure of vehicles on the Daulatdia-Paturia route,” he said, adding that he, however, faced a slight traffic jam at Nabinagar in Dhaka.
According to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), some 9,500 vehicles crossed the river through the Daulatdia-Paturia route in 24 hours until Friday morning. Most of the vehicles were motorcycles.
On the previous day, around 3,600 motorbikes crossed the river and reached Daulatdia.
Shah Md Khaled Newaj, deputy general manager of BIWTC Aricha office, said a total of 21 ferries are now operating on the route. Eid journey has become easier this time thanks to the launching of the Padma Bridge.
About carrying motorcycles, the BIWTC DGM said there is no sanction on carrying motorcycles on the ferries. The sanction is for the highways. If a biker reaches the ghat overcoming the barriers, the ghat authorities cannot refrain him from crossing the river.
