The city wore a near deserted look yesterday as most people were yet to return after the three-day-long Eid-ul-Azha holidays. Attendance was thin in both private and public offices, which opened yesterday. Those who came to work were busy embracing each other and sharing Eid pleasantries, leading to very little business transactions.

Similarly, the usual buzz surrounding the Secretariat was missing, with most officials and clerks yet to report for duty. Even the number of visitors who throng the seat of government was low. Only some ministers, the secretaries, the chief executives of ministries and divisions, along with section heads, were present.

The streets outside the Secretariat appeared to be vacant without the usual number of vehicles parked around. Unlike other days, getting an auto-rickshaw near the Secretariat was a cakewalk.

The traffic on other city streets was very thin, and most public modes of transport had less than the normal load of passengers.

Given the low turnout of passengers, rickshaws and auto-rickshaws seemed far more reasonable with fares. Auto-rickshaw drivers charged only Tk. 150, instead of the usual Tk. 250, to ferry passengers from Jatiya Press Club to Tejgaon industrial area.

But the situation would not be the same for long as most

of the holidaymakers would slowly trickle back within the next few days. The Eid holidays, which began on Saturday, saw thousands from the city leaving for their homes in far off areas.

Desperate to reach home, many holidaymakers braved the rain to travel in trucks and the roofs of trains and buses. They also jostled for space in launches and ferries.

The exodus was so much that an overloaded ferry ran aground on a sunken sandbar on the Shimulia-Kathalbari route in the Padma, forcing authorities to arrange for emergency dredging on Sunday, sources said.