by Dames Alexander Sinaga

JAKARTA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The holy month of Ramadan and the celebration of Islamic post-fasting festivity Eid-al-Fitr have been associated with a homecoming tradition, locally known as mudik, for many people in Indonesia with the world's largest Muslim population.

The homecoming travel before Eid takes place in the big cities such as Jakarta and Surabaya. Travelers exit these cities by various means of transportation, overloading train stations and airports and congesting highways on the way to gather with families and relatives. This year, the end of Ramadan is estimated to fall on April 10 or 11, depending on the sighting of the moon.

Arief Rahmanda, a 30-year-old man who resides in the eastern part of Jakarta, left his home recently with his wife and a three-month-old baby for his birthplace in Lampung province on the Sumatra island to celebrate the end of Ramadan with his parents.

The trip took the family around six hours by car. Rahmanda, the chief executive officer of a transportation consulting company, had decided to depart earlier for his hometown in a bid to avoid traffic chaos, which could occur a few days before Eid.

"I don't want us to be trapped in such a potential condition. It's a wise decision if we travel to Lampung earlier," he told Xinhua.

A recent survey conducted by the Transportation Ministry showed that over 71 percent of people across Indonesia, home to over 270 million population, would be a part of this year's Eid exodus.

The survey also indicated that about 80 percent of the journeys would take place between provinces on the island of Java, home to approximately 56 percent of the Indonesian population. The main destination areas for hometown-bound travelers, the survey showed, are Central Java (with 61.6 million people), East Java (37.6 million people) and West Java (32.1 million people).

Concerning the mode of transportation, most travelers would travel by train, accounting for around 20 percent of the total, followed by buses, cars and motorcycles.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has called on the homecoming travelers to conduct their trips earlier before the peak of traffic, which is predicted to happen between April 5 and 8, contributing to reducing the traffic density during the peak.

He also suggested people avoid riding motorcycles in the exodus as it could be very dangerous. He called on travelers to use public transportation means or take free exodus trips provided by governments at various levels or other institutions.

The minister said an integrated monitoring center has been set up in a bid to mitigate the traffic congestion expected between April 3 and 18.

Meanwhile, the national meteorology, climatology and geophysical agency BMKG has warned of extreme weather conditions during the Eid holiday.

It said weather patterns before the religious holiday would be dominated by light to moderate rain between April 3 and 9, and partly cloudy weather between April 10 and 16. Meanwhile, much of the Southeast Asian country would experience light to moderate rains from mid-April, with potential risk of a tropical cyclone.

BMKG and other related institutions, such as the national disaster mitigation agency BNPB, are currently working together to prepare for extreme weather events during the religious holiday.

Indonesia is frequently battered by powerful typhoons that often trigger flash floods and landslides, and rocked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

"If the weather is bad, don't force yourselves and delay the travel instead, especially for those who travel by sea," said BMKG chief Dwikorita Karnawati recently. Enditem

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