Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh (PWAB) claimed on Monday that some Tk 10,000 crore has been looted from homebound passengers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr in the name of Eid tips and extra charges on roads, railways and waterways.The PWAB said 76 inter-city trains, 62 mail and express trains and 95 local trains are carrying 2 lakh passengers on average every day and 48 percent of the total passengers have been forced to buy train tickets from the black market at high prices.
The association leaders came up with the allegation at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club. Association secretary general M Mozammel Haque Chowdhury read out a written statement at the press conference giving a detailed scenario how passengers are forced to pay extra fares.
Association president Rafiquzzaman, its observation team member Lion Mahmudul Hasan Russel, Dr SI Kamal and reporters who collected field-level data were also present.
Quoting data from the ministries concerned and bus, train and launch service providers, the association said some 75 lakh people will be leaving Dhaka before Eid to celebrate the Eid with their families.
Meanwhile, around 30 lakh people from Chittagong will be leaving for various destinations and another 4 crore from one district to another.
The association data show that some 13 crore people will have to count extra charges for various purposes of travel from shopping to short travel and distance travel as Eid tips.
It said some 5 lakh rickshaws, 2 lakh auto-rickshaws, 80,000 buses, 20,000 minibuses, 20,000 microbuses and taxicabs, 2 lakh human haulers, Nasimon, Karimon, Bhutbuti and Easy-bike have been added to the country’s transport fleet.
Meanwhile, trucks, covered vans, mini-trucks will also ply roads due to shortage of public transport, the association leaders said. On waterways, 1200 launches and trawlers– both big and small ones — 22,000 boats, 18,000 speedboats are there in operation to carry passengers.
Quoting from reports of their field visits to Gabtali, Sayedabad, Jatrabari and BRTC ticket counters in Dhaka city, and Bahaddarhat and Kadamtali in the port city of Chittagong, the association leaders said each passenger is being charged Tk 100– Tk 500-700 extra in fare depending on distance of destinations.
About river routes, they said Tk 3,600 crore will be looted from the passengers in 15 days from Ramadan 25 to 10 days after Eid. Every year, traffic movement on major exit points in the capital sharply rises at daytime as the rush of homebound people gets momentum ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Thousands of city dwellers left the city from dawn to midnight on Sunday and Monday while many more are expected to leave within a couple of days. – UNB
