Home affairs minister Sahara Khatun on Wednesday called upon the city dwellers to ensure that their residences and shops are secure before leaving for their home districts for the Eid vacation that begins next week. She, however, said the law enforcement agencies would remain alert to maintain law and order as thousands of residents would leave Dhaka for celebrating the biggest Muslim festival with their families and relations in the remote areas. ‘All those who will leave Dhaka city to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr must keep their houses under lock and key for safety’s sake,’ said Sahara after a meeting called to discuss measures to maintain law and order and keep commodity prices at an affordable level before Eid. She claimed that there were no incidents of robbery or snatching at any markets in the city during Ramadan as the police and Rapid Action Battalion were kept on high alert in and around the city. It requires additional measures to ensure security during the Eid vacation as a large number of people leave the city at a time, she mentioned. Her deputy Shamsul Haque, who also attended the meeting, said the people who would be leaving the city for their home districts must make their own security arrangements to protect their properties. Home affairs secretary CQK Mushtaq Ahmed, inspector general of police Hassan Mahmood Khandkar and FBCCI’s director Mohammad Helal Uddin, along with others, attended the meeting. The usual three-day official Eid-ul-Fitr holiday this year will turn out to be a week-long vacation from August 15 as holidays for the National Mourning Day, Lailatul Qadr and the Friday-Saturday weekend on 17-18 August have all been added to the Eid holiday which is scheduled to begin on August 19. This vacation will allow the people working in the public and the private sectors to leave the capital much before Eid which may be celebrated on August 20, depending on the sighting of the moon. But the mad rush of homebound passengers is expected to start on August 14. Sahara claimed that the government had successfully maintained law and order and the prices of the essentials were also under control this year during Ramadan. ‘We are successful in all areas, but the roads are in bad shape,’ she observed. Referring to the Saidabad-Phulbaria road, she said the people were suffering due to the poor condition of the city’s roads. ‘We have asked the city corporation officials to take immediate measures to repair the roads and ease public suffering before Eid,’ she added. All the government, semi-government and autonomous organisations and agencies, excepting some emergency services, will remain closed from August 15 to August 21, said officials. Incidents of burglary at houses and shops reportedly increase in the capital during the Eid vacation every year.