Homebound people in Dhaka and other parts of the country are desperate to go home with Eid-Ul-Fitr knocking at the door. The pandemic restrictions make no difference to the people hellbent to spend Eid in their homeland. They are determined to use whatever means necessary to reach their destinations, not counting the health measures as a priority.
Abdul Motin, a rikshaw puller in Dhaka, told Bangladesh Post that not going home this Eid is not an option. He could not visit his family last year due to the pandemic and they are in dire need of his support.
“There are a lot of things that needs to be taken care of back at home. My family needs my support. My desire to go home is not based on just festive reasons. I have to go to my family but there doesn’t seem to be a convenient way for me to go but I will try my best”, he said.
Anowara Begum, a house-help in the Dhanmondi area of the capital, said that her holidays begin tomorrow and she will do all she can to make it to her home town this Eid.
She said, “I am aware of the situation but there are a lot of responsibilities on me and I have a lot of commitments to meet back at home. I will have to find a way to leave Dhaka, however I have not decided on how I will be able to do it”.
For the occasion of Eid, a stream of homebound people descended on Shimulia Ghat in Munshiganj. As the day progressed, so did the crowd. Only emergency services were being allowed on some ferries. Passengers ran towards any ferry that came in sight.
Despite the presence of BGB check posts on Sunday, thousands of people heading south came to the port. BIWTC functioned with 15 ferries overnight but stopped crossing on Sunday morning. However, eight ambulances left Ferry Faridpur Ghat No. 1 at around 8.45 am.
At the risk of their lives, passengers in trawlers, including fishing boats, tried to cross the Padma from the vicinity of the ferry terminal. Naval police have so far seized 12 trawlers, as per reports. Meanwhile, ferry Kunjalta had also left from Banglabazar Ghat with 8 ambulances.
BIWTC Assistant General Manager Shafiqul Islam said that the ferries were closed during the day. Only some vehicles of emergency services were allowed to cross. Even at the risk of the virus infection, people are running on pulse, not accepting any obstacles. Out of 16 ferries in the fleet, 2-3 ferries are operating for emergency services.
Munshiganj District Magistrate Moniruzzaman Talukder said that in order to protect the public from the risk of covid infection, it was advised not to go home on Eid. Even then big waves of people are coming down. Hence, two platoons of BGB have been deployed. A large number of police are also working to control the situation.