The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The overcrowded capital wore a deserted look for three days as thousands of people had left for their village homes to observe Shab-e-Barat on Saturday as they got the chance of getting out of the daily rut for three consecutive days since Friday.

Unlike the usual snarl-ups in the poorly managed city traffic, there had been no congestion on the streets during the three-day closure on account of two-day weekend followed by a day of Shab-e-Barat holiday.

And another nagging problem caused to the city-dwellers for outages also eased up as the supply of electricity was rather smooth as all offices and shopping-malls remained closed.

On Thursday afternoon, there was a huge rush of people at railway stations, and bus and launch terminals in the capital with people making desperate bid to go home for the vacationing.

Hundreds of people were seen streaming to Kamalapur railway station, Sadarghat launch terminal and Gabtoli, Sayedabad, Mohakhali and Gulistan bus terminals Thursday to avail motorized transport.

Since the government announcement of the holiday for August 16, government and non-government officials and employees were preparing to leave the capital as they got three consecutive days as holidays.

It was observed that the rush of people going home from some city points with the motor vehicles and rickshaws got stranded for hours in Mohakhali, Maghbazar, Malibagh, Shahbagh, New Market and Motijheel areas.

Talking to UNB, Enamul Huq, a private bank official, said: "All of my family members left the capital three days ago as they would be able to enjoy the holidays with the relatives and observe the holy Shab-e-Barat staying in villages."

However, the capital would return into usual hustle and bustle from Monday as the residents will be returning to their workplaces after spending Shab-e-Barat holiday coupled with weekly vacation from their ancestral homes.

Thousands of people already started moving to the capital Sunday to join their work.