Padma Bridge provides smooth trips to Kuakata as tourists pour in

Tourists travelling to the country’s southwest on the Eid-ul-Azha break have had a smooth trip to Patuakhali’s Kuakata thanks to the Padma Bridge.

 

Every hotel and motel is brimming with holidaymakers who have travelled to catch a glimpse of the exquisite view of the sunrise and sunset at Kuakata, also known as the “Daughter of the Sea” of Patuakhali.

 

Businesses have high hopes of turning around the decline they suffered during the pandemic.

 

Md Motaleb Sharif, the general secretary of Kuakata Hotel-Motel Owners’ Association, said: “There are more than 100 hotels and motels here capable of accommodating as many as 20,000 people. Chances are that over 50,000 tourists might visit after Eid.”

 

“People from nearby areas visited the day after Eid but tourists from [around the country] began arriving from the third day. We’re expecting more people to arrive from Dhaka and other places at night.  As the hotels, motels and cottages are booked, this place will be packed with tourists.”

 

Kuakata Tourist Police OC Hasnain Parvez said, “This is the first Eid after the opening of Padma Bridge. So the tourists will stream in here, it’s a given. So the tourist police have deployed additional manpower with that in mind. More police personnel have been brought in at stations.”

 

There are foreign sightseers as well, according to him. A mobile court team is in operation while doctors, a team from the Fire Service and Civil Defence are also at work.

 

The Padma Bridge has reduced the distance from Dhaka’s Zero Point to Kuakata to almost 300km. With no ferries required for the journey, the trip takes around 6 hours and 30 minutes, which is less than half of the time it took before.

 

Shafiqul Islam, who arrived in Kuakata with his friends from Dhaka, said: “Four of our friends are here on a tour after Eid as the Padma Bridge has been inaugurated. This is the first time I’m here. I’m enjoying it.”

 

“We’re mesmerized by the vastness of the sea. We’re going around to different places and spending a lot of time on the beach. This is a unique experience.”