Vehicles are stuck in a severe traffic jam on Mirpur Road at Dhanmondi in Dhaka on the first day of the easing of restrictions on the movement of public transports on Thursday. — Sourav Lasker

Chaos was back on the capital city roads on Thursday following the resumption of the intra-district bus services amid widespread violation of the current Covid restrictions on public movement and overall activities.

While the capital roads had already been congested with people and vehicles after the reopening of the shops and shopping malls 12 days ago, the number of people and the intensity of traffic congestion on the roads have increased immensely following the fresh Thursday relaxation.

On the 23rd day of the ongoing restrictions, buses were seen competing with each other as usual and violating health regulations by taking even standing passengers, not using masks properly and sanitiser at all. 

Footpaths in the city were also flooded with street vendors and pedestrians while the number of customers has been increasing at shopping malls and kitchen markets with every passing day.

Against this backdrop, prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged people to celebrate the upcoming Eid in their present locations to help check the spread of the coronavirus across the country, United News of Bangladesh reported.

‘We all shouldn’t travel risking our lives on the occasion of Eid. Celebrate Eid where you’re now,’ she said through a videoconference from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Public health experts also expressed fear of a fresh outbreak if the violations went on amid relaxed restrictions.

A circular issued by the Cabinet Division on Wednesday extended the current restrictions till May 16 and allowed the intra-district road public transport services after 22 days while the ban on train, launch and inter-district bus services would remain in force.

Earlier the government has allowed all banks to continue their activities daily for a limited duration since April 14, permitted domestic flight operations on all but the Cox’s Bazar route since April 21 and reopened shops and shopping malls since April 25.

The ongoing restrictions started on April 14 before which on April 5 the government imposed an 11-point restriction on public movement and businesses.

The previous restrictions were extended amid widespread violations as many people came out of their homes while others went shopping, crowding markets despite high risks of infection in the capital as in the other cities.

The immediate past April was the worst month in terms of lives lost to Covid-19 in Bangladesh with 2,404 deaths, almost double the figure in July 2020 that saw 1,264 deaths when the first wave of the pandemic peaked after the virus was detected in March 2020.

The country’s Covid death toll has reached 11,796 and the number of cases 7,69,160 so far, according to the Directorate General of Health Services data updated on Thursday.

Virologist Nazrul Islam, a former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, told New Age that if the relaxations of the restrictions and the violation of health regulations went on Covid infections and deaths would increase.

‘The government has resumed banking  services, reopened shopping malls and now allowed bus services inside districts,’ he said, adding that health regulations should be followed completely in all these places.

Nazrul added that the government had to make people follow the regulations while people should also play a more responsible role. 

Abu Jamil Faisel, a public health expert and government’s advisor on Covid-19 for Sylhet division, said that the resumption of public transport services in the districts was very worrisome as the movement of people would increase following the resumption.

There are no chances for the rate of infections to decrease, rather it would increase again if people move from one district to another, he said.

‘If the ban on public transports would have been there for two weeks after Eid, then the rate of infections would be much lower,’ he added. 

Following the fresh relaxation of the ban on Thursday, buses started to run within each district while the bus staffs were asked to operate the services at 50 per cent capacity of the buses, with a 60 per cent increase in fare, mandatory use of masks by all and sanitiser by the bus staffs during the trips.

But as seen, all these regulations were largely ignored in the capital like elsewhere in the country.

In the capital many buses were seen carrying passengers at 50 per cent capacity during the first half of the day but the number of passengers increased as the day progressed, especially in the afternoon.

In Gulistan area people were seen getting on buses while huge numbers of street vendors blocked almost half of the roads where huge numbers of customers were also seen throughout the day.

Passengers were seen struggling to get on buses at the Farmgate crossings in the afternoon while buses with standing passengers were seen in Jatrabari area.

Buses were also seen competing to overtake each other on roads in Shahbag, Farmgate, Mohakhali, Azimpur, New Market, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Banani, Rampura, Khilgaon, Mouchak and Badda areas to take more passengers.

Nagging traffic congestions were witnessed almost all day in Shahbagh, Azimpur, New Market, Science Lab, Hatirpool, Banglamotor, Farmgate, Kakrail, Malibagh, Paltan, Gulistan, Jatrabari, Rampura, Badda, Banani, Mohakhali, Uttara, and Mirpur areas.

The traffic-congestion situation was almost unbearable in front of different shopping malls and kitchen markets in the capital.

Huge numbers of people have thronged the shopping malls since morning, especially in Panthapath, New Market and Mouchak areas. 

The New Age correspondent in Manikganj reported that the number of people on the southern district routes from Dhaka increased on the day.

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation operated 10 ferries on the Paturia–Daulatdia and four on the Aricha–Kazirhat routes due to increased pressure of passengers.