Transport owners and workers have claimed that due to lack of passengers there were not many buses despite no major untoward
incident and adequate police presence on Saturday.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, a transport union leader, had announced long-haul buses will operate during the BNP-led 18-Party
alliance’s blockade.
Train and bus services were normal, but train passengers had to suffer due to erratic schedules.
Saturday was the first day of the Opposition’s four-day blockade of road, railway and waterway that started at 6am and will end at 5pm on
Wednesday.
The blockade was called demanding restoration of a ‘non-party’ government to oversee the next polls and cancellation of the election
schedules.
Minister Khan had on Nov 26 announced that the traffic flow on the highways which had been crippled by the Opposition’s non-stop blockade
would be normalised from Friday.
He had also promised to pay compensation for any loss suffered by transporters or labourers during the blockade. It encouraged the
owners and labourers to operate the vehicles from Saturday despite being a day of blockade.
Not many buses were seen at the bus terminals in capital Dhaka even though roads in the capital were choked by traffic jam on Friday, the
only day of the week that is being exempted from the incessant blockade.
Buses left for nearby districts from Dhaka but there were none for long-distance destinations. Some left Mohakhali Bus Terminal under
police protection.
“They (transporters) were willing to operate long-route buses from Sayedabad,” said Ashikur Rahman, Additional Superintendent of Police
(Highway), speaking to bdnews24.com.
“But according to them there are not many passengers,” he said.
Buses were running on short routes, said Md Minhazul Islam, Senior Assistant Commissioner at Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Demra zone.
Speaking to bdnews24.com, Md Hiron Mia, driver of a Feni-bound bus of Jatriseba Paribahan, said “I am going to Feni and not to Chittagong.
The passengers will continue their onward journey on other buses from there.”
There was no report of vandalism of vehicles on Dhaka-Chittagong highway on the first day of the blockade.
Two trucks were reportedly set on fire on the northern highway in Sirajganj. Besides this, four to five vehicles were vandalised on
Dhaka-Sylhet Highway.
Launch service from Sadarghat was also normal, said an official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).
BIWTA’s Inspector at Sadarghat said eight launches left the Sadarghat while 40 anchored there by 10am. – bdnews24.com
