With the Eid vacation drawing an end on Sunday, Dhaka residents have started coming back to the capital after celebrating the Eid-ul-Fitr with their near and dear ones in their village homes.
Bus and launch terminals as well as railway stations witnessed crowds of people coming back to Dhaka from their hometowns, but the pressure of the passenger is still low.
Zabed Chowdhury, who was returning from Khulna to Dhaka, told UNB that it took less time to reach Dhaka as the highways are relatively free of traffic.
“There was no traffic jam in the route, even the roads of Dhaka are still empty,” he added.
This year, the Eid holidays coincided with weekly public holidays Friday and Saturday, cutting most people's holiday to a three-day vacation. Nevertheless, many have taken extended leaves.
Office-goers started attending offices - both in public and most private institutions - though thin in numbers with Dhaka still to get back to its usual hustling and bustling and traffic-choked roads.
People were seen exchanging Eid greetings on the first working day after the vacation.
As many are still in holiday mood, the city looked free from traffic jams two days after Eid on Monday and those who chose not to head out of the city for Eid celebration had a few days of respite from the usual crowd, noise and pollution.
Fahad Fahim from Mohammadpur enjoyed the short vacation of only three days by roaming around the city with his friends.
"We get the chance to enjoy the crowd-free and traffic-free Dhaka only during the Eid holidays. So we decided to celebrate the festival visiting different places of the city", he said.
On the other hand, the Dhaka is expected to gain its old form from Tuesday while the pressure of the passengers returning back to Dhaka is expected to start mounting from Monday night.
Minister: People enjoyed comfortable journey
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday claimed the journey of homebound people was comfortable as the government took coordinated and planned steps ahead of Eid.
Obaidul, also the general secretary of ruling Awami League, came up with the remarks while exchanging greetings with the reporters at his Secretariat office on the first working day after Eid vacation.
“The number of road crashes and loss of lives is less than the previous years,” he said.
The minister also claimed that people reached Chittagong from Dhaka ahead of Eid within four hours.
