90 lakh Eid holidaymakers to leave Dhaka by road: SCRF

About 1.5 crore people are expected to leave greater Dhaka region including Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Gazipur, and Narayanganj city corporation areas during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

Sixty percent of them (around 90 lakh) will go by road and the remaining 40 percent will leave by water and railways, according to a pre-Eid observation report of Shipping and Communication Reporters Forum (SCRF).

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The organisation on today issued a press release on the report.

Ashis Kumar Dey, president of SCRF, admitted that the report may not be 100 percent accurate as there is no relevant complete database in any public or private office in this regard.

The report has been prepared according to the data of researchers, voluntary organisations and various other institutions related to the transport sector, SCRF said.

According to the observation, there is risk of public suffering and accidents on the roads like the previous years, However, the government has taken extensive preparations for smooth Eid travel, it said.

Quoting the latest census, the report said that 4.40 crore people live in Dhaka division. Among them, the population of Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporation areas is 59,79,537 and 42,99,345 respectively.

The report said, about 75 percent of the country's garment industry is in the Gazipur region, and the population of the Gazipur metropolitan area is now about 70 lakh. Twenty-five lakh people live in Narayanganj city area. About 50 lakh people live in three districts outside these cities. Besides, the population of Narsingdi and Manikganj districts are 26 and 20 lakh respectively.

The SCRF observation said, on the occasion of Eid, at least 50 percent of the people in industrial and commercial areas leave for their village homes or other destinations during Eid.

Generally, the Eid journey starts a week before, but the road transport sector has no capacity to ensure smooth journey of such a large number of people in an orderly manner in seven days.

Although the government has allocated sufficient funds for the development of road infrastructure, the conditions of many long-distance roads are still poor, it said.

There are more than 800 risky turning points across the country. Thousands of motorcycles and private cars, including cattle-carrying trucks and pickup vans, will move on the highways before Eid.

Apart from this, tolls are collected manually in many places including national highways that may create long traffic jam and disrupt bus schedules, the report added.

However, the report mentioned that if various decisions of the government are implemented to make the Eid journey smooth, public sufferings on the roads will be reduced.