The usually busy corridors of the capital looked almost deserted yesterday, the last day of the nine-day Eid vacation, as many city dwellers are yet to return to join their respective workplaces.
Traffic at the otherwise busy intersections including Farmgate, Mohakhali, Shahbagh and Mirpur-10 was thin between 11:00am and 2:00pm yesterday with a few public and private vehicles running through the areas.
The regular buzz on most of the city streets was also not there, while most shops and business centres kept their shutters down.
There were fewer pedestrians on the sidewalks. The usually crammed buses could offer seats for every passenger.
However, the situation was quite opposite at different amusement sites and locations including Dhaka Zoo at Mirpur-2, Shishu Park at Shahbagh and Crescent Lake at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
The government and private service holders, school and college students and garment workers are expected to join their offices, education institutions and factories today.
The city’s bus, train and launch terminals looked busy yesterday as holidaymakers started returning to Dhaka from their village homes.
During visits to Kalyanpur and Mohakhali bus terminals in the afternoon, people were seen smiling, which reflected the joy they shared with their loved ones in the last few days.
“It might take the whole week for the start of the fully-fledged operation at different offices, especially the government ones,” Karim Al Hasan, a Janata Bank officer, told this correspondent at Karwan Bazar as he returned to Dhaka from his village home in Kushtia after spending the Eid-ul-Fitr with his parents and relatives.
This year, officials, especially 13 lakh government employees, enjoyed a record highest nine-day holiday, thanks to the government for granting July 4, the only workday between the Eid holidays, as a public holiday, paving the way for a long vacation from July 1.
However, the government employees will have to make up for July 4 on July 16, a Saturday.
Some holidaymakers who returned to Dhaka said they had to suffer a lot due to torrential rains in their areas as well as high fares.
“This Eid was different for all of us as the country saw the deadliest attack at a Dhaka cafe a few days before Eid and the most gruesome attack near an Eid congregation on the Eid day at Sholakia in Kishoreganj.
“I don’t know what awaits us in the days to come,” Fahimul Haque, a serviceman of a private company, told The Daily Star at Farmgate as he returned from Ishwardi.
Source: The Daily Star
