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The nation welcomes a different Pahela Baishakh, Bangla New Year Day, today amid the countrywide shutdown imposed to contain further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
No outdoor celebration is there this time as the authorities have urged all to stay indoors and celebrate the occasion digitally to beat the pandemic.
With the sunrise today, it is the first day of Baishakh, the first month of the Bangla calendar year 1427.
But the coronavirus has dealt a severe blow to every section of society and traders are the worst-affected.
With the usual fanfare missing, the kitchen markets witnessed a thin presence of consumers on the eve of the largest traditional festival in the country.
Due to the countrywide shutdown over Covid-19 pandemic, many will miss homemade traditional foods, which are a big part of the celebrations.
The city's kitchen markets reflected the gloomy mood, as they saw a sharp decline in sales of fish, meat, fruits and other food items.
There was no buzz for Hilsa, the most sought-after delicious item for the celebrations of Pahela Baishakh.
And prices of the silver fish were almost stable, according to vendors.
While visiting Rayer Bazar kitchen market, this FE correspondent found only a few buyers doing their shopping.
Monirul Islam, a fish vendor, said the number of customers increased slightly on Monday, compared to other days during the shutdown period, but is not good enough for business.
He said he purchased 25 pieces of Hilsa from Swarighat, a wholesale fish market, two weeks back and stockpiled them for sale before the Pahela Baishakh in the hope of earning a good profit.
But he could sell only six pieces of fish on Monday.
"We could not attract customers even after offering to sell the fish at a much low rate," he said.
"I invested Tk 12,000 to purchase the fish, but I hardly could get my investment back," he said.
Hilsa was selling at Tk 650-950 a kg on Monday depending on the size and quality.
Monirul said he was selling a 900+ gram fish at Tk 750-800 each, which was Tk 1500-1700 apiece last year.
Other fish and meat traders in the market also echoed the same experiences.
Fruit vendors, who purchased watermelon, wood-apple, guava and other fruits for the New Year trading, were also disappointed.
Halim Sheikh, a fruit shop owner at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Road in Mohammadpur, told the FE that many vendors have purchased watermelon in a large number with the hope of getting a good profit ahead of the Pahela Baishakh festival.
He said he purchased 120 pieces of watermelon from Badamtoli, but only a few customers have turned up on Monday.
Grocers, vegetable vendors, meat traders and others also witnessed low sales on the eve of the Bangla New Year's Day due to the shutdown.
On the other hand, prices of some essentials, including rice, ginger, pulses, onion and potato, witnessed a hike in the last three days.
Ginger prices hit Tk 260-320 a kg, registering an increase of 70-80 per cent during the period.