Holiday hangover prevails

The capital seemed to be in a holiday hangover although government and private offices reopened yesterday after a four-day holiday that included a three-day Eid vacation.

The holiday officially began on January 8 (Saturday), but most of the city dwellers left the city on January 6 (Thursday) to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr (the greatest religious festival of the Muslim) with their near and dear ones in outlying villages and towns.

The capital still looked deserted as most shops and business centres kept their shutters down. The notorious city traffic was also less chaotic. There were few pedestrians on sidewalks. The usually crammed buses had seats for passengers.

However, the air in some parts of the city remains filled with foul smell caused by garbage remains. Many roads in the city still remain dirty.

Attendance was very thin yesterday at the Secretariat, the headquarters of all ministries and offices of the Republic. However, top officials were present.

Presence in other government offices in the capital was thin. Sources said only a few staff turned up and stayed in their offices barely a couple of hours. They were busy exchanging Eid greetings and embracing each other. They also talked about their new clothes and how they passed the Eid.

Secretariat sources said there was virtually no business in the offices. Sources said a good number of officials and employees are on additional leave to give more time to their near and dear ones living at their village homes "as they find three-day Eid holiday not enough".

Presence of officers and employees in state-run banks, post offices and, in some cases, in private banks and commercial establishments also was less than normal. However, transactions in banks went as usual. It is expected that it will take at least a couple of days more before holiday mood is over.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange was back in business yesterday, as trading resumed following the Eid vacation. But the holiday hangover also had its mark on the floor, as attendance of brokers was less than normal.

Although all banks, insurance companies, semi-government offices, autonomous bodies, multinational companies, and the offices of local business complexes in Motijheel commercial area, the business hub of the country, opened to business, the staff seemed too inadequate to conduct business as usual.

With a thinner traffic since Friday, civic life in capital continued to have some relief from the hustle and bustle that the Dhakaites are usually subjected to.

The city dwellers are happy with the present look of the capital as they can now move without hazards and breath better in absence of traffic jam and air pollution.

Though movement of rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and minibuses rose yesterday, they were seen plying with less number of passengers. Rickshawpullers and auto-rickshaw drivers charged higher fares in an attempt to compensate for the lack of passengers.

Most shops, shopping malls, markets, barring those of essentials, kept their shutters down.

There are allegations from different areas that city corporation staff did not perform their duties properly as garbage stacked up in dustbins during the holidays.

Meanwhile, the holidaymakers have started returning to the capital. Officials and employees, who work in government and private offices, were seen coming back to the city -- some with family members and some others alone -- by train, bus and launch at Gabtali, Mohakhali, Syedabad, Kamalapur and Sadarghat.