Trucks carrying sacrificial animals are crossing the Padma via Daulatdia ghat in Rajbari to Dhaka and elsewhere this time without any hardship, to the delight of cattle traders and truck drivers.

With only two days left before Eid-ul-Azha, the pressure of Dhaka-bound livestock trucks is growing as the day approaches, but the trucks are boarding directly and heading to their destinations without long waits.

Meanwhile, people have started leaving the capital to celebrate Eid with their loved ones. With enough vehicles on the Daulatdia side, homebound people are travelling on to their destinations by various means. This was learnt on a visit to Daulatdia ghat on the afternoon of Monday, 26 June.

In the past there was no end to the suffering at Daulatdia ghat whenever Eid came. But since the Padma Bridge opened on 25 June last year, that hardship has eased a great deal, and long queues of vehicles no longer form on Daulatdia's roads. Traffic on this river route still rises above normal at Eid, raising fears of hardship. Although the number of livestock trucks at Daulatdia has already grown ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, vehicles and cattle trucks are crossing by ferry without long waits or trouble, to the delight of cattle owners, traders and drivers.

According to BIWTA and BIWTC, 18 ferries large and small, 20 launches and 10 speedboats will carry passengers and vehicles this Eid. To ease congestion at the ghat, ordinary trucks will not be ferried for a total of seven days before and after Eid, except those carrying livestock and urgent perishable goods. Law enforcers will be on duty in the ghat area and on the roads to root out extortionists and touts.

Several truck drivers said they can buy ferry tickets themselves at the government-set price without touts, and they are glad to be able to board the ferries safely without jams.

Cattle trader A Mannan Miji said he set off from Kushtia for Dhaka with 18 cattle. There was no trouble on the highway, and no extortion at the ferry ghat either.

Cattle truck driver Hridoy Mridha said there had been no hardship on the road and no jam at Daulatdia this year, and trucks can board the ferry directly. In the past, owners could not get their cattle to market on time because of problems at the ghat, but this time they will reach their destinations on time without trouble.

Nur Ahammad Bhuiyan, assistant manager of BIWTC at Daulatdia ghat, said 18 ferries are running on the Daulatdia-Paturia route ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, and vehicles are being ferried through four ghats on the Daulatdia side. "We hope this Eid journey will be smooth. Livestock trucks are now being ferried on a priority basis. To prevent extortion, tickets are given to no one except the truck's helper or driver," he said.

Swapan Kumar Majumder, officer-in-charge (OC) of Goalanda Ghat police station, said police are taking a strict stand so that no one can collect extra tolls or extort money from livestock trucks.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.