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The stations for Dhaka’s metro rail are overflowing with commuters attempting to avoid the traffic gridlock brought on by the ongoing protests against the quota system in government jobs.
As quota protesters blockaded various locations, including Shahbagh, the Science Laboratory area, and Zero Point, traffic was nearly brought to a halt in the area. The demonstrations led to heavy congestion in the streets and alleys nearby.
Since noon, many workers and employees in offices and various private institutions have opted to use the metro rail instead.
Long queues of metro rail passengers could be seen at stations like the Secretariat and Shahbagh. The stations themselves were swamped by passengers, bdnews24.com reports.
Ashiqur Rahman was attempting to board the metro rail from the Secretariat station.
“Now this is what you call a crowd,” he said. “I came to the station at 2:00 pm and got in line. Now it's 3:00 pm. Three trains have already left, but I wasn’t able to get on them.”
“The quota protesters ‘blockades’ are clogging the road from the Secretariat to Agargaon. I'm taking the metro rail because I don’t see any other option."
Abidur Rahman came from Shahbagh to Motijheel. He said.
"There are many students in the Shahbagh area. No cars are allowed to pass. That's why I came to Motijheel from Shahbagh. Even though I reached the station at 12:30 pm, it took me 45 minutes to get a ticket. The queues were long. What can you do? I missed two trains.”
“Even after buying the ticket, I could not board the next train that came to the station. Finally, I somehow managed to get on the following train. Passengers were absolutely stuffed inside. There was a huge rush of passengers... what a situation. I somehow managed to find standing room. But it was still hard.”
Farida Kaniz, who works at a private institution in Motijheel, said:
"I had a lot of trouble getting to Agargaon with my child. I often ride the metro rail. But today I realised that the metro rail was having major difficulties.”
“My child was very angry and asked, ‘Why is it so crowded today? Let's go by car instead.’ I couldn’t explain that the car’s wheels are locked."
A guard at the Secretariat metro rail station told bdnews24.com that, aside from the regular passengers, residents of various surrounding areas were coming to the station on foot or on a rickshaw to ride the trains.
Mohammadpur resident Salman Hossain had some work at the court and then took a rickshaw to the metro rail station at the Secretariat. He was waiting for a train.
"There are no buses. With great difficulty, I got a metro rail difficult. The situation was so bad that it was tough to buy the ticket. There’s such a big crowd that I’m worried about whether I’ll be able to get on.”
A similar sight could be seen at the Dhaka University metro rail station. Ripon Mia, a student of Dhaka University, bought a ticket after standing in line for a long time.
"I have to go to Shyamoli for some urgent work. I had to stand in line for a long time to buy a ticket. Today is more crowded than other days," he said.
Sharif Chandra Sarkar, customer relations officer at the station, said, "The rush of passengers on the metro rail was apparent from this morning. What you’re seeing now is nothing. In a bit, it will increase significantly."