Advance tickets for special launch services from Dhaka to the southern districts to facilitate travel for Eid-ul-Fitr holidays will be up for grabs from Apr 20, reports bdnews24.com.
The decision was made at a meeting attended by stakeholders of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), launch owners and administration on Sunday.
Informing journalists about the outcome of the meeting, Mobarak Hossain Mazumder said passengers can buy tickets for cabins in advance from the same day.
This year, authorities will ensure no launch can take more passengers than its capacity, the BIWTA official said.
“We will deploy additional security and vigilance teams to monitor the situation,” he said.
Trawlers carrying sand will not be allowed to operate five days before and five days after the Eid-ul-Fitr day, Mobarak added.
No motorcycles will be allowed to board the vessels five days before and five days after the Eid-ul-Fitr day, he said.
On an average day, 80 launches operate on 43 routes from Dhaka’s Sadarghat. During the Eid holiday season, the launch number reaches 200.
This year, homebound passengers will be required to show their national identification (NID) cards or birth certificates to board a launch and similar vessels to travel ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Three million holidaymakers will leave Dhaka each day for Eid. But half of them won’t have tickets
Passengers must show NIDs or birth certificates to travel by launch for Eid
Launch authorities will keep a record of the NID cards or birth certificate numbers and those yet to get a NID will be required to keep a photocopy of their birth certificate.
The new rules are being implemented to ensure public safety and to track victims in case of an accident.
The advance tickets for long-route buses to southern and northern destinations for journeys from April 26 to May 1 started in Dhaka on Friday.
Bangladesh Railway is scheduled to start selling advance train tickets from April 23.
This year, Eid ul-Fitr is expected to be celebrated on May 2 or May 3 depending on the sighting of the moon.
Around three million people are expected to leave the capital each day for the Eid holidays. But a recent study by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), revealed on Sunday, found that of these 3.0 million travellers, only about 1.6 million have secured transport for the trip.
Each day, about 800,000 people will leave Dhaka on their Eid journeys by bus, 100,000 by train, 125,000 by launch, 300,000 by motorcycle and another 300,000 by private vehicles.
But another 1.4 million will not be able to get tickets and use dangerous means such as travelling on the roofs of trains, buses and launches.