People still crossing Padma to return home

Many people are crossing the river Padma at Paturia, Manikganj, to go home today, Saturday, the day after Eid. The ferries from Paturia arriving at Rajbari’s Daulatdia terminal are crowded with passengers headed south. These people decided to go home on Saturday to avoid the Eid crowd. All the ferries arriving from Paturia are teeming with both people and vehicles. But the scene at the Daulatdia terminal is different. There are not many passengers heading back to Dhaka. The terminal is not busy as usual.

A visit to the Daulatdia terminal area from 9:00 am to 10:30am Saturday morning saw the Dhaka-Khulna highway quite empty. There were no vehicles lined up for the ferry. Most ferries were anchored at the terminal, idle, the ramps pulled up. The ferries just carry a few vehicles that turn up to go to the Paturia terminal.

In the meantime, many people have come just to roam around the empty Daulatdia terminal. Shimanta Pramanik brought his younger sister Shaila by motorbike from Mulghar of Rajbari sadar upazila.

He said, “There was such chaos at the terminal for the last few days with crowds, hustle and bustle. And we wouldn’t go anywhere because of corona. That’s why I’ve brought my little sister on an outing along ferry terminal bypass road on the day after Eid. It’s empty, no vehicles, no noisy crowds.”

Textile engineer Raqibul Huq works at a garment factory in Savar. He had gone to his in-law’s home in Nalibazar, Manikganj, the day before Eid. He did not go to his village home for Eid because of the crowds. Now after spending Eid with his in-laws, he is on his way to his village home. As he boarded the ferry, he found many like him are crossing the river Padma to go home. He said, “At least there are less crowds than before. It is easier going home now.”

Assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC)’s Daulatdia terminal office, Md Firoz Sheikh, said that people who went to the villages for Eid have still not started to return. The terminals will come under pressure probably after two or three days when the people start rushing back to the capital. But many people are still leaving the cities to go home by the Paturia terminal.