Clicky
National, Front Page

Dhaka wears a deserted look


Published : 14 Aug 2019 08:26 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 09:39 PM

The busy capital appeared almost deserted as millions of people left the city to celebrate Eid festival.  There no crowds on the streets and the traditional busy thoroughfares looked unusually uninhabited. Most of the city dwellers are still spending Eid holidays in their village homes leaving the capital appear almost uninhibited.

While visiting different areas of the capital including Mirpur, Farmgate, Motijheel, Moghbazar, Mohakhali, Gulshan, Gulistan and Sadarghat, this correspondent found city’s streets and main thorough fares almost free of traffic congestion.   Very few buses, cars and rickshaws were seen plying on the city streets since morning. Buses, which usually remain overcrowded, were seen plying with very few passengers. As officials of government, semi-government, banks and financial institutions, and many private offices have been enjoying an unofficial nine-day holiday, they are expected to join offices on Sunday.  The nine-day Eid vacation includes a four-day weekly holiday, and five day official holiday, which will expire on Saturday.

As schools, colleges and universities are now closed on the occasion of the Eid, majority of the students and teachers are yet to return to the capital. Many shops, motor vehicle workshops and other business houses remained closed as staff are enjoying holidays. Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus terminals, Kamalapur railway station and Sadarghat launch terminal looked deserted for lack of passengers. Saif Rehman, a banker, boarded a bus from Gabtoli Road for going to Tangail on Tuesday. Talking to Bangladesh Post, he said, “I easily availed myself of a Tangail-bound bus for not having any pressure of passengers. I am going to visit my relative’s house at Nagarpur in Tangail. I hope the trip will be hassle-free.” However, the city’s recreational centers witnessed huge number of crowd as city dwellers, especially children, poured into the major amusement parks in the city on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Shishu Park at Shahbagh and National Zoo at Mirpur, Baldha Garden, Ahsan Manzil, Lalbagh Fort, Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban Square, National Memorial, Jamuna Future Park, witnessed huge crowds. Some people, who always celebrate Eid in Dhaka, and those who did not go to village homes for any inconvenience spent their time enjoyable through visiting these amusement centers. Mahbub Hasan Srabon, a city dweller who came to BAF Museum with his family, said, “I have felt comfortable to visit these places with my family as the roads were free from traffic congestion. It will be more comfortable for us if the city remain congestion-free all the time.”