11-day feast greets countrymen!
Thursday, 17 September 2009
FE Report
The country braces for a virtual 11-day holiday which begins tomorrow.
Friday and Saturday are public holidays and the government has declared a three-day holiday for holy Eid-ul Fitr from Sunday and an extended holiday on Wednesday if the Eid is observed on Tuesday.
Normally most of the office-goers do not attend office on the first day after the Eid vacation and this year the day falls on Thursday.
After enjoying the weekly holidays for two days there is a temptation to skip office on Sunday as the country will enjoy another public holiday on Monday for Durga Puja - the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.
It is expected that the office-goers will return to work on Tuesday, September 29, giving them a contrived 11-day-long feast.
People have started leaving the city to observe the biggest Muslim religious festival with their kith and kin in their ancestral homes.
The city will gradually wear a deserted look as holiday- makers' exodus home from the capital partially began last week.
A large number of women taking advantage of their children's school holiday left the city on Wednesday and Thursday to avoid the late hour rush.
Tickets for inter-district bus services were sold out and demand for train and launch tickets continue to soar.
Many passengers alleged that black marketeers, in connivance with booking clerks, are selling tickets two or three times over the normal price at Kamalapur Railway Station, Sadarghat Launch Terminal and Gabtoli, Mohakhali, Syedabad and Jatrabari bus terminals.
The waterway passengers are also facing problems as a large number of tickets for the launch cabins have been booked by high government officials, political leaders and activists, while the rest of the upper class tickets are in the hands of the black-marketeers, said a ticket counter clerk of the Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Everyday some 300 vessels leave Sadarghat carrying passengers exceeding capacity.
According to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), around 110 to 130 large and small launches depart from Sadarghat and around 50 special launches and vessels have been pressed into service to handle the Eid passengers.
The country braces for a virtual 11-day holiday which begins tomorrow.
Friday and Saturday are public holidays and the government has declared a three-day holiday for holy Eid-ul Fitr from Sunday and an extended holiday on Wednesday if the Eid is observed on Tuesday.
Normally most of the office-goers do not attend office on the first day after the Eid vacation and this year the day falls on Thursday.
After enjoying the weekly holidays for two days there is a temptation to skip office on Sunday as the country will enjoy another public holiday on Monday for Durga Puja - the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.
It is expected that the office-goers will return to work on Tuesday, September 29, giving them a contrived 11-day-long feast.
People have started leaving the city to observe the biggest Muslim religious festival with their kith and kin in their ancestral homes.
The city will gradually wear a deserted look as holiday- makers' exodus home from the capital partially began last week.
A large number of women taking advantage of their children's school holiday left the city on Wednesday and Thursday to avoid the late hour rush.
Tickets for inter-district bus services were sold out and demand for train and launch tickets continue to soar.
Many passengers alleged that black marketeers, in connivance with booking clerks, are selling tickets two or three times over the normal price at Kamalapur Railway Station, Sadarghat Launch Terminal and Gabtoli, Mohakhali, Syedabad and Jatrabari bus terminals.
The waterway passengers are also facing problems as a large number of tickets for the launch cabins have been booked by high government officials, political leaders and activists, while the rest of the upper class tickets are in the hands of the black-marketeers, said a ticket counter clerk of the Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Everyday some 300 vessels leave Sadarghat carrying passengers exceeding capacity.
According to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), around 110 to 130 large and small launches depart from Sadarghat and around 50 special launches and vessels have been pressed into service to handle the Eid passengers.