Holidaymakers returning to Dhaka

The Eid vacation is over.

Holidaymakers have started returning to the capital after celebrating Eid-ul-Azha with their families at their hometowns.

But the pressure of returnees is still low. Moderate crowds were seen at rail stations, bus and launch terminals.

Seventy launches reached Sadarghat Launch Terminal from 23 routes from around 7:00am to 11:00am yesterday, said Alamgir Hossain, joint director at Naval Traffic.

He said the number of returnees will increase today.

Meanwhile, trains were running around 30 minutes behind schedules on an average, causing delay to the departure of outgoing ones, said Mizanur Rahman, a sub-inspector at Kamalapur Railway Station.

Shahidul Islam, a banker who returned from Kushtia by train, told the news agency that he and his family members had to return yesterday as his office and schools of his children open today. “We didn't have to suffer much except for the train delay,” he said.

Meanwhile, ferry services on Shimulia-Kathalbari route in the Padma river were disrupted for two hours from around 4:00am to 6:00am due to poor navigability, causing immense sufferings to passengers.

Ten small ferries are in operation while more than 300 vehicles are waiting on both sides of the river, said Khandaker Shah Khaled Newaz, assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

“Dredging work is going on to solve the navigability problem. Soon the ferry services will return to normalcy,” he added. He said 87 launches and 400 speedboats are transporting passengers on this route.

The highways were also relatively free of traffic.

Farhana Dolly, a resident of Shahjahanpur who was returning from Feni, said she reached Dhaka much quicker this time.

Dhaka is expected to get back to its usual hustle and bustle today with people starting to return to the capital in their thousands.