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All the government offices, public and private banks, financial institutions, and capital market reopen today (Sunday) following a nine-day-long Eid vacation.
On Saturday, returning city dwellers faced trouble at Kamalapur Railway Station, Sadarghat launch terminal, and bus terminals at Sayedabad, Mohakhali, and Gabtoli due to the shortages of public transports, the FE found while visiting the areas. They arrived at these locations in large numbers.
Meanwhile, working class people and private sector employees among thousands, who had left the capital to celebrate Eid in their ancestral homes, returned to the capital to join their offices.
Additionally, most of the government sector employees returned to the capital on Saturday to get back at their workstations.
Many train passengers expressed their happiness as they had not faced any schedule disruptions on their return journey and said they chose rail transport to avoid traffic jams.
Among the many passengers who were seen leaving the capital by train, passenger Habiba Khanam said that she was going to Kishoreganj by train to meet her parents. She celebrated Eid with her family at Malibagh in the city.
Another passenger, Rahim Prodhan, who arrived at Kamalapur Railway Station from Panchagarh by Ekota Express on Saturday, said that he and his travel companions didn't face any trouble during their return journey. He also said that the situation was same during their departure from Dhaka.
On Saturday, all arriving and departing trains at the Kamalapur station maintained their respective schedules, except a few.
Lalmonirhat-bound Burumari Express and Rangpur-bound Rangpur Express left the Kamalapur station nearly three hours and an hour and 20 minutes behind schedule respectively.
Talking to the FE, Kamalapur Railway Station manager Sahadat Hossain said 70 trains were supposed to depart the station while a similar number of trains were scheduled to arrive.
"Burumari Express and Ekota Express had left the station a little bit late," he said.
The Eid holiday for government employees started on March 29 and was scheduled to end on April 2. One government holiday was there on March 28 on the occasion of Shab-e-Qadar.
However, the government declared Thursday (April 3) also a holiday through an executive order. As it was followed by the weekend on April 4-5, the vacation extended to nine days.
All the government offices, banks, financial institutions, stock market, and courts reopen today at 9:00 am and will continue until 5:00 pm.
During the month of Ramadan, the office schedule was from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com