The Home Ministry has issued 15 directives to ensure the safety and smooth travel of people heading home for Eid-ul-Fitr, including heightened security measures and traffic management.
The instructions, signed by Senior Assistant Secretary Md. Ziaul Haque Mir of the Political-2 Branch, were announced on Tuesday (March 25). The directives are as follows:
The directives are as follows:
1.Authorities must prioritize maintaining law and order nationwide ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
2.Intelligence agencies and uniformed police must be deployed to prevent theft, robbery, extortion, and other crimes. Checkpoints should be set up at key locations, and measures taken to curb counterfeit currency circulation.
3.Security patrols involving the army, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police, and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) must be intensified in diplomatic zones, major cities, and ports.
4.Garment and industrial sector representatives, including BGMEA and BKMEA, along with industrial police, must ensure timely payment of salaries, allowances, and Eid bonuses to workers.
5.To facilitate safe shopping, additional female police and plainclothes officers must be deployed. Special night security must be arranged, and all markets brought under CCTV surveillance.
6.Authorities must strictly prevent excessive transport fares, illegal payments at ferry terminals, overloading of passengers, and extortion in public transport.
7.Effective steps must be taken to reduce traffic congestion across the country, including Dhaka.
8.Toll collection must be streamlined through Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) at major bridges and highways, including Jamuna and Padma bridges, to ease congestion.
9.Traffic flow should be monitored via CCTV at 155 identified points, with drones deployed if necessary in high-risk areas.
10.Law enforcement agencies must not stop vehicles on highways without specific prior intelligence during the seven days before and after Eid to prevent unnecessary congestion.
11.Except for vehicles carrying essential goods or passengers, long-haul trucks and vehicles carrying construction materials must be restricted from highways and ferry crossings for three days before and after Eid.
12.Bulkhead vessel movement on rivers must be halted for five days before and after Eid to prevent waterway congestion.
13.Fire Service and Civil Defense teams, rescue boats, divers, firefighting equipment, and ambulances must be on standby for emergency response on roads, highways, and waterways. Coast Guard assistance may be sought if necessary.
14.In case of accidents, damaged or stalled vehicles must be promptly removed from roads and bridges, with wreckers positioned in traffic-prone areas, including Jamuna and Padma bridges.
15.Law enforcement agencies must set up control rooms to oversee road discipline and maintain coordination with the Home Ministry via hotline 01320001223.
The Home Ministry has emphasized coordination between control rooms and the national emergency hotline (999) to ensure swift action when needed.
BDST: 1225 HRS, March 25, 2025
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