City life back to normal
Sunday, 26 August 2007
FE Report
Life in the city returned to near-normalcy Saturday as the curfew was eased for 17 hours from 6 am to 11 pm.
City dwellers resumed their daily activities, shops and markets lifted their shutters and all modes of transport plied on the streets.
But Sunday's scheduled opening of government, semi-government and autonomous offices is expected to help restore normalcy further across the capital.
Commercial activities were considerably noticeable at Motijheel, the city's commercial hub, due mainly to the opening of private offices and foreign exchange branches of commercial banks.
Clients, who thronged in banks for withdrawal of money, were seen in long queues in most of the bank branches.
"Today, I've withdrawn a much higher amount of cash than normal. The reason is the fear of uncertainty. I will face trouble if any crisis occurs in a day or two," Muridul Alam Chowdhury of Universal Jute Export, told this correspondent.
"Our branch remains open every Saturday. And the number of clients is usually thin on Saturdays. But today's case is different. People could not make any transactions in the last three days. That's why, they've come to withdraw cash from their accounts to meet their needs," an official of Sonali Bank at Motijheel pointed out.
A considerably higher influx of shoppers was noticed in the city's shopping complexes and markets.
A visit to the capital's posh shopping mall, Bashundhara City, illustrates further the shopping spree by city dwellers.
Saku, owner of Mitua Fashion at Bashundhara City, noted: "Shoppers are thronging the shopping mall as they've got their confidence back following easing of curfew and the restoration of mobile connection."
He added: "The market was also open Friday. But the number of visitors was lower."
The indefinite curfew was imposed from Wednesday night in six divisional cities including Dhaka Metropolitan City to contain student agitation under the nationwide state of emergency. Since then, all universities and colleges in six divisional cities have remained closed.
A huge rush of incoming passengers was witnessed in the city's Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus stations, where people started to return to the capital after the weekly holidays.
The same picture was noticed at Kamalapur Railway Station and Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Day labourers, rickshaw-pullers and other low-income groups heaved a sigh of relief after the curfew relaxation.
"Had the curfew been protracted for even a day more, my family members would go unfed. I thank the government for easing the curfew. Otherwise, people like me will find it difficult to make a living," Rafiq Hossain, who peddles rickshaw to live on subsistence, said Saturday.
Life in the city returned to near-normalcy Saturday as the curfew was eased for 17 hours from 6 am to 11 pm.
City dwellers resumed their daily activities, shops and markets lifted their shutters and all modes of transport plied on the streets.
But Sunday's scheduled opening of government, semi-government and autonomous offices is expected to help restore normalcy further across the capital.
Commercial activities were considerably noticeable at Motijheel, the city's commercial hub, due mainly to the opening of private offices and foreign exchange branches of commercial banks.
Clients, who thronged in banks for withdrawal of money, were seen in long queues in most of the bank branches.
"Today, I've withdrawn a much higher amount of cash than normal. The reason is the fear of uncertainty. I will face trouble if any crisis occurs in a day or two," Muridul Alam Chowdhury of Universal Jute Export, told this correspondent.
"Our branch remains open every Saturday. And the number of clients is usually thin on Saturdays. But today's case is different. People could not make any transactions in the last three days. That's why, they've come to withdraw cash from their accounts to meet their needs," an official of Sonali Bank at Motijheel pointed out.
A considerably higher influx of shoppers was noticed in the city's shopping complexes and markets.
A visit to the capital's posh shopping mall, Bashundhara City, illustrates further the shopping spree by city dwellers.
Saku, owner of Mitua Fashion at Bashundhara City, noted: "Shoppers are thronging the shopping mall as they've got their confidence back following easing of curfew and the restoration of mobile connection."
He added: "The market was also open Friday. But the number of visitors was lower."
The indefinite curfew was imposed from Wednesday night in six divisional cities including Dhaka Metropolitan City to contain student agitation under the nationwide state of emergency. Since then, all universities and colleges in six divisional cities have remained closed.
A huge rush of incoming passengers was witnessed in the city's Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus stations, where people started to return to the capital after the weekly holidays.
The same picture was noticed at Kamalapur Railway Station and Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Day labourers, rickshaw-pullers and other low-income groups heaved a sigh of relief after the curfew relaxation.
"Had the curfew been protracted for even a day more, my family members would go unfed. I thank the government for easing the curfew. Otherwise, people like me will find it difficult to make a living," Rafiq Hossain, who peddles rickshaw to live on subsistence, said Saturday.