Dhaka yet to shake off holiday mood

A bustling Dhaka city is still to get its usual look though people have started returning to the capital after a three-day public holiday on the occasion of holy Eid-ul-Fitr.

The capital city remains in holiday mood on Thursday with thin presence of people at their workplaces while many holidaymakers are yet to return to Dhaka from their village homes.

Government, semi-government, and private offices, including banks and financial institutions, opened on Wednesday but there was a low presence of employees as many of them took leave for Wednesday and Thursday. The scene was no different in Dhaka courts as well.

Most of the shopping malls, business centres, schools, colleges and universities did not reopen and may take a few more days to resume activities.

Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, was celebrated in the country amid much enthusiasm and religious fervour on Monday.

The Eid holidays began on June 25, but people enjoyed an additional vacation from June 23 to June 24 as the two days were weekends.

People’s presence at the secretariat, the administrative hub of the country, was also very thin on Thursday.

More than half of the officers and employees are yet to join offices.

There was low traffic on the unusually empty city streets.

Unlike the other days, public buses were running across the capital with a few passengers.

Bus terminals and railway stations were not busy like usual days. Only a few people were seen coming back to capital while there were only a few outbound passengers.

There was no traffic congestion as a small number of public and private vehicles were plying the city streets.

The situation, however, was quite opposite at different amusement sites and locations in the city, including Dhaka Zoo, Shishu Park, Hatirjheel and Crescent Lake.

Most of these places had been witnessing huge and constant rush since the Eid day as people from different areas of the city went there for giving their families a good treat.

Source: dailysun