Home-bound people overloading the roof of a train risking their lives as they travelled to their villages ahead of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations at the Airport Railway Station in Dhaka yesterday. Millions of city dwellers travel to villages to celebrate their biggest festival Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
By Mizan Rahman/Dhaka
With Eid al-Fitr just round the corner, the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, a city of 15mn, looks deserted as more than 5mn of city dwellers have already left for their home towns and villages to celebrate one of the biggest festivals of the Muslim community with their near and dear ones.
Except for roads surrounding the shopping malls and the exit points, most streets in the capital Dhaka have thin vehicular movement yesterday.
Most busy areas such as commercial hub Motijheel, Farmgate intersection, Jatrabari and Mohakhali saw little traffic movement till afternoon. However, rush of long route vehicles increased
as the day progressed.
Many residents were seen rushing to major shopping malls and markets for last minute shopping for Eid. However, most commuters complained of shortage of public transport. They also alleged that most city buses were busy making short trips to nearby places such as Mymensingh, Paturia and Maowa to make fast buck.
Meanwhile, the number of CNG-run auto-rickshaws and rickshaws were higher than normal, although commuters alleged most drivers were asking double or triple the normal fare, taking advantage of the situation.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have stepped security, sensing a possibility of a rise in criminal activities as most city dwellers left the capital keeping their houses locked.
“Dhaka will go under a security blanket when you will celebrate Eid with relatives in your villages. We will make security arrangement so that city dwellers find their belongings secured, as it was, when they return to the city,” said DMP joint commissioner Monirul Islam while addressing a press
conference yesterday.
According to the DMP, more than 5mn people left the capital ahead of Eid this year and more than 1mn houses will remain
vacant during the vacation.
“We have a security plan. We have talked to locals, community security associations, business associations of several shopping centres. Besides, we have talked with security guards of apartments to know what we should do to ensure security of locked houses and shops,” Islam added.
He said that the petrol teams of DMP will keep continuous contact with the security guards, local people to monitor the situation.
