Dhaka river port overflows with crowds ahead of Eid

One day into the Eid holidays, passengers have begun to crowd Dhaka’s main river port.

According to port authorities, launches have made 33 trips from the Sadarghat by 9:30am on Saturday. Launches made a total of 125 trips on Friday. Launches usually make 60 to 65 trips a day.

Despite the near doubling of trips, relatively few passengers had used the launches on Friday, said MV Tipu Launch Manager Md Farooq Hossain.

But it seems to have picked up on Saturday, he said.

Port authorities are, however, forcing launches to leave the port without a full consignment of passengers, Hossain said.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authorities said they were only following 'proper procedures' to avoid congestion.

Despite the crowds, most passengers have not faced any problems.

Passenger Mobarak Howladar, who is travelling with his wife and child, said he is concerned about his inability to find a cabin.

“The launches are here, but no cabins are available. How can I take my family take this trip while sitting on the deck?”

Cabin passengers made their bookings in advance,” said Sundarban Group General Manager Abul Kalam Jhantu. “Passengers arriving at the port cannot find cabins at the moment.”

We are unable to give our own relatives cabin seats, he said.

“But, even then, there isn’t a massive crowd of passengers, he said.”

There was a rush of pontoon passengers until 8am but there were no accidents, said BIWTA Transport Inspector Humayun Kabir.

There is likely to be a larger crowd on Saturday, he said.

Police have taken necessary measures to help reduce the burden on travellers, said Kotowali Police Station Director of Operations Md Moudud Howladar.

A total of 236 Dhaka Metropolitan Police personnel were on duty in the Sadarghat area around peak hours (12pm to 10pm), he told bdnews24.com.

Over 100 police personnel have been deployed to the area at other times, he said.

Naval police, Coast Guard, RAB and BNCC volunteers are also at work, Howladar added.

The entire area is being monitored by CCTV cameras said BIWTA Joint Director Jainal Abedin.

Any problems will be dealt with swiftly, he said.