Dhaka, April 14 -- By the time Mezbah Haque reached the petrol pump at Asad Gate, his plans for Pahela Baishakh had already begun to fade.

He had left his home in Mirpur's Kazipara at 5am on Tuesday, hoping to fill up his motorcycle in the relative cool of the early morning and spend the first day of the Bengali New Year with his family. Instead, he found a line of motorcycles already stretching for more than a kilometre.

With no choice but to join the queue, he waited.

Around 12:15pm, he had finally reached the entrance to the Sonar Bangla pump in Mohammadpur. Even then, 10 to 12 motorcycles were still waiting ahead of him.

With a weary smile, Mezbah said: "I told my two daughters I'd get fuel and then take them out. But I'm already ...