Life returning to normal

Offices, banks, trade centres and factories Wednesday resumed functioning on curfew-truncated timings as Bangladesh begins bouncing back from five days of deadlock during quota protests.
Firsthand reports said the capital city, in particular, started returning into its usual ambience for the easing of curfew for seven hours that set off a rush for necessary dos.
Even some key crossroads of the city witnessed nagging traffic congestion during peak hours due to traffic diversion from many routes and increased number of people rushing to accomplish their pending jobs within the timeframe.
Also, disruption to metro-rail and elevated-expressway services following damage done by certain marauders in the backdrop quota protests aggravated pressure on the remaining routes and mode of transport.
Visits to some areas like Mirpur, Agargaon, Mohakhali, Farmgate, Kawranbazar, Shahbag, Paltan and Gulistan revealed many people waiting for public transport or rushing to their respective destinations by rickshaw, CNG-run three-wheelers, and private vehicles.
Breathing a sigh of relief on release from a sort of pandemic-time lockdown, a private official, Asaduzzaman Ahnaf, said he was bored staying home since Friday amid tensions stemming for violent activities in different parts of the city, as also elsewhere over the country.
"It seems the situation is returning to normal as offices are allowed to run after three days of general holiday," he said, adding that he would accomplish some pending works in addition to attending his office.
He was talking to an FE correspondent at Kawranbazar intersection while rushing to his office in Baridhara from the city's Panthapath area.
"I have been waiting for a bus for more than 20 minutes, but there is no sign of the desired bus to arrive here," he said, about a common predicament many others got subjected to for upended commuting system in the megacity.
The government imposed countrywide curfew Saturday following flare-ups of violence centring the quota-reform movement since the beginning of July. However, situation started taking a turn for the worse on July 16 when six people were killed in clashes among police, quota reformists and pro-government activists.
With the situation improving, the government eased curfew for seven hours between 10.00am and 5.00pm for Wednesday-Thursday (today). The offices remain open between 11.00 am and 3.0 pm.
Traffic was diverted from different routes centring Prime Minister's residence, office and the National Parliament which led to gridlock at some points, witnesses and police sources said.
A resident of Mirpur-2 area, Aminul Islam, who usually travels to Motijheel on metro rail, said he had to change transport several times to avoid traffic jams.
"I came to Agargaon by an auto-rickshaw, then walked to Bijoy Sarani and then boarded a public bus," said Mr Islam, adding that the closure of metro service added woes to the traffic problem on the day.
Hoping that the city will get back into its typical looks next week, he said still there were some signs of violence in different parts of the city, including the Mirpur-10 intersection.
People from different walks of life rushed to banks, ATM booths, grocers, and shopping malls to accomplish their pending tasks.
Many were making haste to complete their dos within the shortest possible time since there were bindings to return home by 5.00 before the curfew returns into full force.
Meanwhile, almost all garment factories Wednesday resumed operations after three consecutive days' suspension due to violence-taming curfew.
Talking to the FE, Mohammad Hatem, executive president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), confirmed that almost all factories were operational on the day although there were 10 to 15 per cent of workers were absent.
However, some factories in Gazipur and Narayanganj resumed operation Tuesday, according to industry people.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) first vice-president Syed Nazrul Islam at a meeting Wednesday with Bangladesh Freight forwarders Association and Chattogram Customs Agents Association in the port city sought all-out support for smooth import-export activities.
He informed the meeting that the industry incurs losses worth about Tk 16 billion for suspension of production a day and called for all concerned to work together to help the industry overcome the losses and sustain its competitive edges.
The country's ports, including the prime seaport in Chattogram, resumed shipment and delivery of export and import cargoes that had been stuck at different points of the nation's commercial lifeline amid widespread troubles.

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