The populous capital Dhaka is now mostly empty. There is no hustle and bustle of people, the hawkers' shouts and the whistles of machinery, no familiar traffic jams. Many people have left the capital for the long holiday of the holy Eid-ul-Fitr. As a result, this populous mega city has become empty.
However, the Eid holiday ends from Saturday. Offices will open from tomorrow. Even then, there is no familiar traffic jam. The roads and streets are still empty, even though the number of people has increased slightly compared to Friday.
From the field visit, it was seen in the capital's Khilgaon, Rampura, Motijheel, Paltan, Shantinagar, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Banglamotor, Shahbagh, and Matsa Bhaban areas that the number of vehicles has increased slightly this Saturday. However, there is a passenger crisis in most vehicles, and vehicles have to run with empty seats due to the lack of passengers. Due to the passenger crisis, buses were also seen waiting for some time at these points. Bus and Laguna staff were seen calling out for passengers for a long time.
Although some vehicles were moving in the capital, there was no traffic jam anywhere on the road. However, cars were seen stopping for a short time at various traffic signals. Along with this, rickshaws, battery-operated rickshaws, CNG-operated auto-rickshaws, private cars and motorcycles were seen plying on empty roads.
The reporter spoke to Abul Hashem, a driver of Raida Paribahan in Khilgaon in the capital. He said, "It takes more than an hour to fill a car, whereas earlier it used to be done in 10 to 20 minutes. As a result, we have to drive at a lot of loss. Even if we take 5 taka more as a tip from a passenger, this loss is not being compensated. Still, we have to drive without sufficient passengers."
The reporter also spoke to a passenger of Azmeri Glory Paribahan. He said, "I took a bus from Victoria Park in Old Dhaka. I reached Shantinagar in just a few minutes, whereas at other times, it would have taken an hour to travel this distance. There is no traffic jam anywhere on the road. I was able to reach it in one go. There were empty seats in the car, and there weren't many passengers. It seems like it won't even take an hour to get to Gazipur."
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
