Forgetting the usual hustle-bustle of city life, he played rural games, fished in the pond, planted trees, joined hours-long chitchats with school friends and cousins at his village home.

Mahamudul Hoque, a civil engineer by profession, passed some joyous days during the Eid vacation.

“The vacation has refreshed me. Sweet memories of the holiday will keep my mind cheered up for next couple of months and I will be waiting for next Eid,” said Hoque, who returned to the capital yesterday.

Like him, thousands of Dhaka city dwellers returned to the capital yesterday to join their businesses.

Most of the travellers enjoyed hassle-free journeys, but the passengers heading for southwestern districts faced sufferings at the Daulatdia ferry ghat in Rajbari.

As there was huge pressure of vehicles, long traffic gridlock was created at the ferry ghat. Several hundred vehicles got stranded for hours to cross the Padma river since Saturday evening.

“I reached the ghat around 12:30am yesterday [Sunday]. I had to wait for around four hours to board the ferry,” said Borhan Uddin, a private service holder.

Around 800 vehicles were in long queues and waiting to board the ferries.

However, passengers of private cars and microbuses got some relief as the ferry service authorities allowed them before other modes of vehicles.

“As per the instruction of the ferry authorities, I came in the front of the queue leaving around 500 buses behind,” said Mofazzal Hossain, who boarded a ferry around 8:00pm on Saturday.

Such gridlock continued all day long. Around 300 vehicles were waiting at the ferry ghat around 7:00pm last evening, reports our correspondent.

In the Dhaka-Tangail Highway, which is considered as the most vulnerable zone to witness traffic jam, vehicles were moving slowly all day long due to excessive rush.

“Usually it takes around 30 minutes to cross the 15-kilometer route from Chandra to Mirzapur. But today [Sunday] it took around one and a half hours,” said Tahsin Khan, a university student.

Elsewhere in Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways, passengers travelled smoothly almost all the way.

In Kawrakandi ferry ghat under Madaripur district, there was pressure of vehicles, but no traffic gridlock was created there, said ferry service officials.

In Kamalapur Railway Station, all the trains that came from different districts were seen jam-packed with passengers.

“I did not get any seat. I have standing in the train all the way. Still I prefer travelling on trains because buses may face gridlock on the roads,” said Mohammad Sadim, who came from Mymensingh.

As many as 61 trains from different districts came to Kamalapur yesterday. Of them, four were delayed by one to two hours, said railway officials.

The photos were taken at Sadarghat Launch Terminal yesterday. Photo: Amran Hossain and Prabir Das

A similar scenario was seen at the Sadarghat launch terminal. All the launches that came to the terminal were overcrowded.

The returning passengers, however, faced transport crisis in the capital after they had arrived at bus, launch and railway terminals.

Around 60 lakh city dwellers go to their village homes to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims, every year, according to transport operators.