Rundown highways have increased safety risk for water transport passengers too, as the number of people using riverine routes for Eid travel may shoot up this year, increasing the chance of overloading of vessels.Around 10 to 12 lakh people leave Dhaka in the seven days before Eid by launches through Sadarghat, the biggest launch terminal sending vessels out to over 50 destinations in the southern parts of the country every year.

This year the number is likely to shoot up. With the rivers full to the brim with monsoon water, the size of crowds at the terminal for launch tickets has increased as buses are unable to operate at some places and taking too long to reach destinations due to rundown condition of roads.Sadarghat launch terminal is now full of newly painted vessels waiting to overload as usual up to double or triple their capacities to transport homebound passengers. Some of those are not even fit at all, said some launch repair workers who did not want to be identified.

Authorities of at least 50 faulty vessels received notices for repair in the last one month, said Shadat Hossain, a vessel surveyor of the Department of Shipping, claiming of increased vigilance ahead of Eid.”Engines and hulls of many were faulty. I already issued notices to those for stopping operations until made fit,” Shadat said.