<i>Ticket crisis, high fares haunt Eid returnees</i>
Passengers, who went to observe Eid festival with the dear and near ones in the southern region, have continued suffering even during their return journey to work stations due to scarcity of tickets and high prices.
Tickets of the most routes are hardly available outside the black market as tickets for a few days before and after the Eid festival were sold out two weeks before the holidays started.
State owned Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) could not arrange adequate 'special services' to tackle the Eid-rush due to acute shortage of vessels.
Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) did not arrange any special service on this occasion.
Taking this opportunity, private operators of road and water transports in the southern districts realised 40 to 80 percent additional fare from passengers during September 6 -- September 18.
According to the launch and bus owners associations, 13 triple-decker launches plying up and down Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route will have at least 224 trips in those days before and after the Eid while about 100 buses are daily plying from Barisal to different long routes, mostly connecting Dhaka.
Passengers of BIWTC vessels on Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route in a single trip have to pay Tk 565 for one first class cabin seat, Tk 355 for one second class cabin seat and Tk 95 for each deck seat.
Usually the fare of private launches is Tk 500 for a first class cabin seat equivalent to second class of a BIWTC vessel, Tk 1400 for a VVIP cabin seat equivalent to first class of a BIWTC vessel, Tk 250 per sofa and Tk 80-100 per deck on the same route.
But for the said 12 days, private launch operators increased their fare to Tk 700-750 for a first class cabin seat, Tk 1850-2000 per VVIP cabin seat, Tk 400-450 per sofa and Tk 80-100 per deck on the route.
The additional charges will earn the operators a total of Tk 1.2 core more.
The one-way bus fare on Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route has been increased from Tk 280 to Tk 400 for September 6 to September 18.
Asked about realising the exorbitant rates of fare, leaders of launch and road transport owners' associations failed to give any satisfactory answer.
About one hundred coaches, each having 40 seats on an average, are daily running on different long routes of the region linking Dhaka during September 6 -- September 18 and they will earn a total of Tk 32 lakh extra profit.
Operators of launches, trawlers and ferries and even manual transports like rickshaw and van plying different local routes in the southern region are also realising 40% to 80% additional fare during the Eid holidays.
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