With the holy Eid-ul-Fitr drawing near, many people have streamed out of Dhaka city to get together with their kith and kin in villages for the festival.
The capital city has already taken on a deserted look as thousands of people have left to celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones.
Most homebound people were seen leaving the capital during the last three to four days.
The city dwellers had started leaving the capital city since April 4 in various ways including buses, trains and launches. In such a situation, Dhaka city has already become somewhat empty. Although the official holiday begins today (Tuesday) and the last working day was Monday (yesterday), many employees and officials of government, semi-government and private offices have chosen to send their families a bit early to avoid the mad rush of people just ahead of Eid.Those who could not leave due to various reasons, left Dhaka on Monday (yesterday) and many of them will leave the city today (Tuesday). As a result, almost all areas of the capital are seen empty except for marketplaces, bus and train stations.
Visiting various parts of the city, including Malibagh, Shahbagh, Farmgate, Azimpur, Newmarket, Karwan Bazar, Fakirerpool and Nayapaltan, this reporter found the city virtually empty, and such images were visible in many places of the city.
Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the largest religious festivals of the Muslim community, will be celebrated on April 11 in Bangladesh based on the sighting of the new moon.
It was seen on Monday (April 8) that there were many passengers at Kamalapur Railway Station, Sadarghat Launch Terminal and Gabtali, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus terminals.Hundreds of passengers were seen waiting for the respective trains to their destinations.
Although it is difficult to tell the actual number of people who left Dhaka for village homes, it is expected that this time around one and a half crore people will leave the city to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr with their loved ones. Out of the large number of Eid passengers, 60 percent 90 lakh people will go by road. The remaining 40 per cent people will leave Dhaka by train and launch.
This time many people are going home because there is a holiday before and after the Eid-ul-Fitr.