Dhaka witnesses bustling return of people as Eid holidays end

Dhaka has started to regain its usual vibrancy as Eid holidaymakers have started returning to the capital after celebrating almost five days of Eid-ul-Fitr and Pohela Boishakh holidays.

Railways stations, bus terminals and launch ghats witnessed huge crowds of holidaymakers who are returning to the city after celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr with their near and dear ones.

Five consecutive days of Eid-ul-Fitr public holidays ended on Monday.

Though, the government-declared holiday was five days, many have spent 10 to 11 days off together with the Shab-e-Qadar holiday and the previous weekend of Friday and Saturday.

Public and private offices, courts, banks and financial institutions opened after the holiday.

As a result, people are rushing to Dhaka from different districts to join the workplace.

 Overcrowding has been observed specially on railways as it is considered as a safe mode of transport.

During a visit on Monday, Kamalapur railway station was seen crowded with people. There was a rush of passengers at this station since morning. Twenty inter-district and local trains from all over the country arrived at Kamalapur station from morning to 1 pm. All the trains were full of passengers. Many have joined the office after reaching Dhaka by train.

Bank officer Ajmal Hossain who came to Kamalapur from Chittagong in the morning by “Parjatak Express” said he was in a rush as he needed to enter the office quickly.

He also said: "I spent a long vacation after many years. There was a holiday for Boishakh with Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. So there was double enjoyment with the family at the village house.”

Sundarban Express arrived at Kamalapur railway station at 7am. A crowd of people from Khulna to Dhaka was seen in this train. A passenger named Malek said: “Who doesn't like to pass holiday? It would be better if there were two more days of holiday.”

Fahmida Hamim, a passenger of the Sirajganj Express train: said: “Our campus is open from today. Exams will start in a few days. So I came to Dhaka quickly.”

Another passenger said: "Comparatively, the train is very crowded. There was also collapse of schedule. The train which was scheduled to reach at 10am, reached at 11:30am at Kamalapur station.”

Kamalapur Railway Station Master Mohammad Anwar Hossain said: "City dwellers started returning to Dhaka from the first day of Boisakh on Sunday. But from today its number is much higher. Specially the office goers are seen returning to Dhaka to join the workplace.”

Admitting that the schedule of the train has been disrupted, the station master said: "The schedule of one or two trains has been disrupted due to various reasons. Most of the trains arrive in Dhaka on time.”

During a visit to the Gabtali bus terminal on Monday afternoon, it was seen that people who went home for Eid were returning on every long-distance bus.

Most of the people coming from the Northern district were going down to Savar, Hemayetpur, Amin Bazar. The rest were going down at Gabtali Terminal.

The arriving passengers said there was no problem on the road to return to Dhaka. There was no major traffic jam. The journey was smooth as the bus ran smoothly.

Passengers had to get into a bit of trouble after getting down from bus. CNC drivers were asking for extra fares seeing crowd of passengers. Besides, they were not taking passengers on the metre.

In the heat of the sun, the passengers were not bargaining more.