Eid vacation suits early trip

Rush of home-bound people from the capital before Eid-ul-Fitr on August 19 or 20 depending on sighting of the moon at the end of Ramadan appears not so intense this year unlike in the previous years.
Transport operators and home-goers attributed this to a 10-day virtual holiday for the Eid. This facilitated home-going of scores of thousands over a longer period, reducing the usual Eid rush of passengers, they said.
August 9 was a public holiday preceding the two-day weekend and there will be public holidays on August 14-16 followed by the weekend and Eid holidays till August 20 or 21 without any break.
“Public holidays before two consecutive weekends created scope for many of my colleagues to send their families to their village homes well ahead of the Eid holidays,” said Golam Kibria, a government official.
Thousands of others are likely to do the same, resulting in decreasing rush of home-bound people before the Eid, he said.
While visiting the capital's Gabtoli and Mohakhali bus terminals yesterday, this correspondent saw no rush of passengers.
“This is quite unlikely. Before the Eid in other years, pressure of passengers was very high,” said Noor Alam, manager of SP Golden Line, at Gabtoli Bus Terminal.
He said that in the previous years, they used to charge the government-fixed fare of Tk 613 each for Dhaka -Jessore service well ahead of a week of the Eid day. But this year, they are still selling tickets at Tk 450-500 each due to less rush of passengers.
Shahid Uddin, manager of AK Travels, said due to media publicity, people are now quite aware of the possible Eid rush, and they try go home as early as possible.
“Eid seasons are our peak business seasons, but this time we are not having good business,” he added.
Abdur Rouf, a staffer of North Bengal-bound Sarker Travel, said there might be an increased rush as many traders and garment workers go home on the last days before the Eid.