'Peaceful' but not festive: Dhaka wears a deserted look on polls day

As the 12th national parliamentary election is underway, the capital city, usually a cacophony of honking horns, blaring rickshaw bells, and the incessant hum of human activity, wore an almost deserted look.

Today, during a visit to the capital's Kawran Bazar, Farmgate, Bijoy Sarani, Moghbazar, Tejgaon Mohakhali, Banani, Segunbagicha, Kakrail, and Shahabagh areas around noon, this correspondent saw most of the streets were nearly empty devoid of any vehicles or people.

The usual election-day fervour was nowhere to be seen.

Even in front of the election campaign booths, there was no presence of voters except the ruling party-backed supporters and election agents, according to witnesses.

Children, freed from the constraints of traffic and crowds, were found playing cricket on the deserted streets in the busiest Tejgaon road, which connects Tejgaon and Bijoy Saranai.

Some girls were also seen playing and skipping on the street, while many played football as there was hardly any traffic movement.

This correspondent saw one or two public buses after waiting for around 30 minutes in Shahbagh. They had less than a dozen passengers inside.

Same situation persisted at Mohakhali as hardly any long-distance bus left the city.

The city's busy streets were dominated by rickshaws, some CNG-run autorickshaws, and a couple of private cars.

Presence of law enforcement agencies, including the armed forces, were visible. They were seen patrolling Dhaka roads to maintain order and ensure a peaceful election process.

As of now, no significant incident has been reported in the city.

While shutters of shopping malls, markets, and shops on the main roads remained closed, some grocery stores in alleys stayed open.

Sumon Miah, a rickshaw-puller at Banglamotor, said he did not go back to his hometown, hoping to make some extra money during the election period. "I only got three trips since early morning till noon," he said.

This correspondent also spoke to Solaiman, a CNG-run autorickshaw driver, at Tejgaon around noon. He said he had been waiting there for the last three hours but did not find a single passenger.