Staff Correspondent:

With Eid-ul-Azha approaching, people have begun travelling from Dhaka to their hometowns to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with their families.

The travel rush kicked off on Thursday morning and gained momentum in the evening, according to transport operators.

Buses departing from Kalyanpur and Gabtoli for the northern part of the country were packed with passengers on Friday.

Ariful Islam, a passenger travelling to Rangpur from Dhaka in a Nabil Paribahan bus, said: “My sister lives in Savar’s Hemayetpur, where my brother-in-law works. He will go home just two days before Eid. Hence, I’m going to pick up my sister and niece on the way.”

The driver of that bus, Mizanur Rahman, said: “The Eid travel service began on May 29. Buses that departed in the on Thursday evening were full. Those departing on Friday morning were crowded, too. There no vacant seats on my bus. Many people are sending their families home early.”

However, travellers faced congestion on the roads out of Dhaka. Buses leaving on Friday encountered long traffic jams near the Palli Bidyut area, just past Nabinagar. At 8:30am, a traffic tailback stretched from Gabtoli to Sreepur, passing through Savar’s Bypile and the EPZ area. One Rangpur-bound bus left Nabinagar at 9:00am and took until 11:30am to reach Chandra Bus Stand due to the gridlock.

Abdus Shakur, a passenger on a National Paribahan bus stuck in the Bypile jam, said: “Traffic jams are a year-round issue here, but it gets much worse during the Eid holidays.”

Hanif Enterprise General Manager Mosharraf Hossain confirmed the increase in travellers. “People started to travel from Thursday evening. Almost every bus is full. They are traveling comfortably since the Eid holidays are longer this time, just like Eid-ul-Fitr. However, the number of passengers will surge on Jun 4 and 5,” he said.

He added that traffic congestion is expected at several points in the days leading up to Eid. “Road repairs are ongoing in Kalyanpur. Therefore, it’s taking around three hours to travel from Gabtoli to Savar, leaving passengers frustrated. On top of that, there’s congestion at Bypile in Savar.”

Mosharraf suggested that roadwork be paused after Jun 1, while urgent repairs like potholes should be completed to improve traffic flow. “Otherwise, passengers will suffer this time as well.”

Advance ticket sales for Eid-ul-Azha journeys to northern and southwestern destinations began on May 16, both at ticket counters and online.