GABTOLI: Eid holidaymakers are heading home to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival of the Muslims, as passengers were marked flocking Gabtoli bus terminal on Thursday morning (June 22). 

Home-bound passengers were found thronging while visiting the inter-district bus terminal-Gabtoli and various bus counters at Mazar Road in the morning.

Commuters were seen waiting hours after hours for the bus.

Passengers were undergoing unbearable sufferings due to shortage of seats in the counters. 

One Shima, a passenger, expressed her outrage for unavailability of space for waiting in Shaymoli Paribahan bus counter.

“It is quite uncertain that when the bus will come. Will we be waiting at the road?”, she said. 

With no place to sit on, many were seen sitting outside the counter and tea stalls.  

A passenger alleged that he had to pay double to buy a bus ticket.
 
No buses bound to Rajshahi, Rangpur, Naogaon, Nilphamari, Bogra and northern districts could depart Dhaka on time on Thursday. 

Buses of southern districts somehow managed to follow the schedules as there was no traffic jam marked at the ferry ghats.

However, most of the bus counters failed to follow the schedules causing disturbance to the commuters.   
 
Counter Master Kashem of Satkhira-bound ‘SP Golden Line Paribahan’ said that they departed the buses on time in the morning but traffic congestions at ferry ghat would disrupt schedule.

On the other hand, the North Bengal-bound buses were departing with 3-4 hours of usual delaying since the preceding days.  

BEST: 1536, HRS, JUN 22, 2017

AH/SI