People sit on the roof of a vehicle at the Mithapur bus stand on Tuesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Packed vehicles and chock-a-block bus stands on Tuesday reflected the mad scramble of people to be back home for Chhath.

Narendra Kumar, 40, who works as an electrician in a Noida-based construction company, landed in Patna on Monday and decided to travel to his hometown Samastipur, some 85km east of the city, a day after. “I think I made a mistake. I should have started early on Tuesday morning. Most buses are packed. I am prepared to travel on the roof,” he said, as he ran towards a bus leaving for his hometown.

On Tuesday, the scene at Mithapur bus stand was one of mad rush, anxiety, anger and nervousness. Thousands keen to spend time with families and dear ones made desperate attempts to catch any form of transport, mainly buses, to reach home on time.

“This is the last day that buses would ply. For two days (starting Wednesday), drivers and other employees would be on leave. Between 9am and 11am, it had been difficult to even find a place to stand. Buses would continue to ply from here till 10pm at the most,” said Sonu Kumar, an employee with Amarjyoti Travels, which runs buses to Sitamarhi, Raxaul, Bettiah and other places.

Amid the crowd, the family of Amarnath Singh was seen huddled in a corner with his two children. Singh, who had just taken a walk through the bus stand, came back to his family with a smile. “I couldn’t finish my work in Patna and we got late. It has been over three hours that we have been trying to board a bus to Muzaffarpur. But all the buses are running full and it is impossible for my wife and children to run after buses or cling on to one. However, there are more buses for Muzaffarpur and we would be at home to perform the evening arghya tomorrow (Wednesday),” Singh, who works as a clerk in a bank, told The Telegraph.

“Traffic movement has been slow but there have been no snarls. We are keeping a close eye and not letting vehicles overtake each other on Mahatma Gandhi Setu,” Anil Kumar, sergeant major (traffic), said.

At Mithapur, a minibus was seen full of people, both inside and on the roof. “The bus is travelling to Darbhanga (around 130km northeast of Patna). There is no risk as we are all going to our homes for Chhath. Chhathi Maiyya would protect us all the way,” a group of men on the roof hollered when told about the danger of travelling on the roof.