Dhaka still in holiday mood as people have started returning

Noman Mosharef  :
A bustling Dhaka city is still to get its usual look though people have started returning to the capital after a five-day public holiday on the occasion of holy Eid-ul-Fitr.
The capital city remains in holiday mood on Monday with thin presence of people at their workplaces while many holidaymakers have started to return to Dhaka from their village homes.
Over the past few days, Dhaka’s streets, which were previously quiet due to the mass exodus of people celebrating the festival with their families, have started to regain their usual vibrancy.
A crowd of people heading to Dhaka was seen at Kamalapur Railway Station on Monday.
Other bus stands, launch terminals of the capital were also seen filled with people.
Some were returning with their families, while others have left their families behind to return to work alone.
Government, semi-government, and private offices, including banks and financial institutions, opened on Monday but there was a low presence of employees.
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 Saturday.
The Eid holidays began on April 19 and ended on April 23.
People’s presence at the secretariat, the administrative hub of the country, was also very thin on Monday. 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.
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.