Monsoon rain makes return journeys even harder

 The eid holidaymakers who have started returning to capital Dhaka and other cities after celebrating the Eid-ul-Fitr in their villages are facing immense trouble due to incessant monsoon rain, lack of transport and poor road conditions.

Ayshea Akhter, a working woman in her early 40s, who had gone to her village home in Bhairab to celebrate eid with her family members said she somehow managed a bus ticket of a Dhaka-bound ‘Royal Coach’ from Bhairab counter around 12:30 pm and boarded it 30 minutes later.

“Usually, it takes two hours to reach Dhaka city from Bhairab town, but today I had to spend nearly four boring hours in the uncomfortable bus though there was no traffic jam on the road…it happened only because of poor road condition and rain,” Ayshea told UNB at Kamlapur Bus Station.

The rain that started lashing the country before the eid spoiling the celebrations of eid holidaymakers in many places still continues inflicting sufferings on those trying to reach their city destinations to join their work in time. The torrential rains also contribute towards deteriorating the road conditions.

Engineer Mujibul Haque who works in a private firm told the news agency that he celebrated eid in Dhaka but had a plan to go to his hometown Chittagong on Monday to meet his other family members on the occasion of eid but he postponed the tour just because of the inclement weather.

Mohammad Hanif, a businessman of Dhaka city, told the correspondent, “Now I’m at my village home in Chhagalniya, Feni. I had a plan to return to Dhaka on Monday but I couldn’t because of the bad weather.”

During his visits to Kamlapur Railway and Kamlapur bus stations at about 4 pm today, this correspondent found many returnees agonizingly waiting to reach home as there was a lack of rickshaws and buses for their short journeys.

According to the Met Office, moderate rainfall were sweeping the country, including Dhaka, Barisal, Khulna, Chittagong and Rajshahi, soaking roads and highways in the regions.

The Met Office forecast that the monsoon rain will turn heavier in the coming days in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

It recorded 4 mm of rainfall in the last 6 hours till 12 pm in capital Dhaka, 15 mm in Chittagong, 9 mm in Barisal, 12 mm in Khulna and 3 mm in Rajshahi as monsoon is active over the country.

Source: UNB