Commuters suffer as transport crisis grips Dhaka

Staff Reporter :
Most of the passengers of long route transports dropped plan fearing pains and affliction while coming to attend BNP rally on Saturday while the city residents suffered pains and affliction due to shortfall of vehicles. The number of buses entering or leaving Dhaka was lower than usual and the number of passengers was reduced significantly in fear of political violence ahead of BNP rally.
Meanwhile, the law enforcers beefed up security measures in and around the capital and had set check posts on vital entrances of Dhaka.
They were on high alert and checking the long-route buses coming towards Dhaka to avert any kind of mishaps.
Apart from checking the long-haul buses, the law enforcers interrogated drivers and passengers in various vehicles including motorcycles, private cars and even frisked wayfarers at Jatrabari, Mouchak, Madanpur, Kadamtoli, Gabtoli, and Tongi points a day before the rally.
Early in the morning at Gabtoli Bus Terminal, most of the bus counters were out of passengers or even some counters were closed.
Imtiaz Hossain, a counter manager of Purbasha Paribahan, said that usually on Friday the number of passengers increased, but today the situation is not normal.
“Passengers perhaps are panicked due to the political confrontation on Wednesday. So people are avoiding leaving the capital,” he added.
Hafiz Ahmed, a conductor of Chuadanga Paribahan, said that there were no shortage of buses but the passengers are less than expectation significantly. “They may be terrified for police
checking and other security reasons,” he added.
Some passengers and pedestrians alleged that the law enforcers frisked their body and even checked their cell phone contact list, private images and massages, which were embarrassing for them.
Meanwhile, the city streets were out of vehicles and the local buses were reduced to a great number, causing immense sufferings to the people, who were seen waiting for hours for buses to travel to their destinations.