‘Comfortable Eid journey’ in old arrangement

Development worker Abdullah Al Mamun wrote on Facebook at around 4pm on Thursday (June 5): “Couldn’t take the abnormal traffic jam anymore! Turned back via Gazipur! Celebrating Eid in Dhaka.”

A short while later, Jamuna Television journalist Mahfuz Mishu wrote: “Reached home around 5pm. Started at 5:30 in the morning. Took till 7:30am just to cross Gabtoli. Then took till 10am to reach Kaliakair. Traffic congestion and crowd on the roads, but what’s missing is management. The police are there. But indifferent. What a terrible, unsafe journey. You could say, when everyone goes together this is bound to happen. That’s also true. But such a long holiday. Eid journey was supposed to be comfortable. Yet only two days’ holiday before Eid. The rest comes after. As a result, the extreme suffering on the roads today and tomorrow is the outcome of the authorities’ short-sightedness. Still, going to my mother, to my own village.”

Under his post, Ekattor Television journalist Shahnaz Sharmin wrote, “Left at 5:30 in the morning and it took till 8:30am just to reach Padma Bridge from Dhaka. By now I should have been home in Bagerhat.”

That day, a television report showed that an entire family fell into the river while scrambling to board a launch in the crowd at Dhaka’s Sadarghat. There was also a child among them. Thanks to a life buoy being thrown from the launch, the family was saved.

According to Thursday’s media reports, a severe traffic jam was seen along 12 kilometres of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway from Tongi to Chandna Chowrasta. The jam essentially started around 4pm. Passengers said it took them almost three hours just to reach Chandna intersection from Tongi.

A news headline from an online portal that day read: “Eid journey in open trucks and pickups; discomfort from rain after sun.” The report said people were travelling to their destinations in open trucks and pickups, risking their lives, alongside public and private transport to celebrate Eid. Along with the heavy traffic, they were soaked in heavy rain after intense sun, causing further discomfort.

That same day, senior journalist Abu Saleh Akon wrote on Facebook: “Harassment going on at various terminals. Double fare being charged. Please take action.”

These scenes and experiences during the two Eids each year are all too familiar to us. I myself once left home very early and after three hours still couldn’t reach Sadarghat from Panthapath, had to return midway. Had to celebrate Eid in Dhaka.

2.
This suffering during Eid journeys has now become so normal that if such incidents don’t happen in a particular year, people are surprised. And every government minister concerned speaks in the same language. Gives assurance. Like last Wednesday, Security Advisor Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, during his visit to Kamalapur Railway Station, told journalists that all-out efforts were underway to reduce suffering during Eid journeys. The adviser said everyone was working tirelessly to keep the train schedules on time. Trains were arriving and departing on schedule to ensure timely operation. Everyone was working together for this.

True, there were no reports of train schedule disruption till Thursday. But the main problem with trains is the ticket crisis. Now 100% of tickets are issued online and released 10 days before the journey. Still, most tickets sell out shortly after release. When lakhs of people log in at once, the server crashes. As a result, getting a train ticket online becomes a matter of great luck.

The question is, why isn’t the number of trains increased? There is a year-round passenger load on trains. Even trying 10 days in advance, it’s often not possible to get a ticket for the desired destination. So, for a mode of transport with such high demand and pressure, what are the government’s development plans? Roads, flyovers, and bridges are built at a rapid pace, so why is railway development so lagging? Because donors don’t want to fund railways? Even if donors don’t, why doesn’t the government increase the number of trains with its own funding?

3.
Before the Padma Bridge, the names Paturia-Daulatdia and Mawa-Kawrakandi ferries struck fear in the hearts of people from the southern region during Eid journeys. Those who haven’t experienced the suffering of waiting for hours to cross the river may never understand. The Padma Bridge has relieved that suffering for the people of the south. Now numerous buses travel daily to southern districts from Dhaka.

But the problem is, it takes hours just to get from Dhaka city to the expressway, especially during Eid. And beyond the expressway, the roads from Bhanga in Faridpur to Barishal and neighbouring districts are still relatively narrow. So, while vehicles can move fast on the expressway, the pace slows after Bhanga. Moreover, accidents on this route are a regular occurrence.

Even after the Padma Bridge, launches are still a big reliance for people from the south. Many launches still leave daily from Sadarghat. But since the bridge opened, the number of launches on the Dhaka-Barishal route has been reduced. Because during regular times, there aren’t enough passengers. Most people now travel by road. So, during Eid, the extra pressure can’t be handled by the available launches. And a business can’t be run by relying only on the two Eids.

Besides, during both Eids, it takes one or even two hours to get from Gulistan to Sadarghat. The roads in Old Dhaka are already narrow. Sadarghat faces traffic congestion year-round. But are any special measures taken to handle the extra crowd and vehicles during Eid?

4.
Since the mass uprising that occurred in July last year, one of the most uttered terms in public discourse is ‘new arrangement’. That is, those who were at the forefront of the uprising have been talking about building a ‘new Bangladesh’ through new politics, new administration, and new philosophies by discarding the existing and old systems. This has been said for nearly 10 months now. But there’s no visible sign of any new arrangement in politics or administration. Everything is running just like before. From the footpaths to sacrificial animal markets—extortion continues as before. Only the individuals and parties have changed. From administration to politics—nowhere is there any positive sign of change. Everything is spinning in the same cycle of the old arrangement.

Same with the Eid journey. Every year the government knows that over 5 million people will leave Dhaka for home during Eid. Yet what measures are taken to ensure smooth travel on the highways? How many more people like Abdullah Al Mamun had to turn back midway this time—do we know? Parents and relatives are waiting at home. Yet they had to return from halfway. Will the state take responsibility for this failure?

Journalist Mahfuz Mishu wrote, there is vehicle pressure and crowd on the road, but no management. Police are indifferent. That means this is still the old arrangement. This is what people of pre-uprising Bangladesh saw. So, is it not reasonable to question what steps the non-partisan government, formed under the leadership of a Nobel laureate through a massive movement, has taken to change the old arrangement or system to make people's lives more comfortable?

Amin Al Rashid: Journalist and writer