About one and a half million people of Dhaka will visit their relatives on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. These people live in different districts of Dhaka Division including Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Gazipur and Narayanganj City Corporation. 60 percent of this large number of Eid pilgrims will go by road. As such, the number of road passengers is about 90 lakhs. The remaining 40 percent people will leave Dhaka by sea and rail.

In a press release on Monday, the civic organization disclosed this information in the pre-Eid monitoring report of the National Committee for the Protection of Naval, Road and Railway. News from UNB

However, the general secretary of the organization, Ashish Kumar Dey, admitted that the report may not be “100% objective” as there is no relevant information in the relevant public and private offices.

According to the National Committee, like the previous years, there is a danger of public suffering and accidents on the roads. However, the government has made extensive preparations for smooth travel on Eid.

Quoting the latest census, the report said that 4 crore 4 million people live in Dhaka division. Among them, the population of Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporation area is 59 lakh 79 thousand 537 and 42 lakh 99 thousand 345 respectively. As about 75 percent of the country’s garment industry (garment factories) is in Gazipur region, the population of Gazipur metropolis is now about 7 million. 2.5 million people live in Narayanganj metropolis. Around 50 lakh people live in these districts outside the three cities. Besides, the population of Narsingdi and Manikganj districts is 26 and 20 lakh respectively.

According to the National Committee for the Protection of Marine, Road and Railway, at least 50 percent of the people in the industrial and commercial areas, including large populated cities, leave their current residences on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. According to the data of various organizations related to transport, including researcher civic organizations, in total, about one and a half million people left the Dhaka region.

Generally, the Eid journey starts a week before, the report said, the road transport sector does not have the ability to deliver a large number of people to their destination in an orderly manner in just seven days. Although the government has allocated sufficient funds for the development of road infrastructure, the condition of many long-distance roads is still in poor condition. There are over five hundred dangerous bends across the country. Thousands of motorcycles and private cars along with cargo trucks and pickup vans will ply on the highways around Eid. Apart from this, tolls are collected manually in many places including national highways. All in all, there is a risk of long traffic jams, disruption of bus schedules and unintended accidents at various locations, the report said.

However, according to the report, the government has already given necessary instructions to all concerned authorities for a smooth Eid journey. Law enforcement agencies including the police and all related organizations have taken various steps. The report expressed the hope that public suffering during Eid travel could be reduced a lot.