The rush of homebound travellers and vehicles is growing at the Paturia ferry terminal in Manikganj ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, bdnews24.com reports.
Mohiuddin Russell, manager of BIWTC's Paturia office, said that the pressure from small vehicles has been particularly high at the pier in Shibalaya Upazila on Thursday.
As many as 20 ferries are transporting vehicles across the Padma River, he added.
With Eid looming, the pier and the roads leading to it have been teeming with vehicles. The traffic load continued to increase as the day progressed.
However, smaller vehicles were more prevalent in the area.
A 2-km tailback stretching from the pier's main road to Nali Bazar had formed in the morning. The traffic mainly consisted of private cars and trucks carrying emergency goods. Scores of holidaymakers waited their turn to make the crossing in the sweltering heat.
Many of them came by bus while others brought their cars. But all of them were stranded in the snarl-up at the pier.
Rajbari-bound Miraj, 25, took a bus from Gabtoli to get to Paturia. He is hoping to catch a local bus on the other side of the river to reach his destination.
Around 11 am, Monir Ahmed was waiting in his car for a ferry at the terminal. “I am travelling to Faridpur with my wife and children. But here we are stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the Paturia pier.”
'Rahim', a driver of a Magura-bound car, said that he had been stuck in traffic for about an hour.
On the traffic situation in the area, SI Mostafizur Rahman, who is in charge of ferry terminal No. 5, said, “There is no traffic jam near the pier. There are a few small cars but we can't call it a traffic jam."
