Operators begin moving buses to Dhaka’s outskirts

Transport operators have begun relocating idle inter-district buses from the Mohakhali bus terminal to a temporary depot in Purbachal as part of a government initiative to reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka.

Under the initial arrangement, buses that remain unused between scheduled trips will be kept at the Purbachal depot before returning to Mohakhali to pick up passengers, transport operators said.

Around 30 of the roughly 1,500 buses operating from Mohakhali had been moved to the temporary depot by Thursday afternoon.

The relocation follows a decision taken at a meeting on traffic management and congestion reduction at the Secretariat on June 15, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

At the meeting, the authorities, including the two Dhaka city corporations, were instructed to relocate the inter-district bus terminals at Gabtoli, Mohakhali and Sayedabad to the city’s outskirts as soon as possible.

Transport operators said all inter-district buses currently using Mohakhali would eventually be shifted to a permanent terminal planned at Diabari.

Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association Secretary General Saiful Alam said the temporary depot had been built on about three acres of land owned by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha in Purbachal.

He said development work was still underway and the depot would require about 15 more days to become fully operational.

The facility will accommodate buses that have dropped off passengers at Mohakhali but are scheduled to depart again later in the day or the following day.

The buses will return to Mohakhali before their scheduled departure times to collect passengers and continue regular services.

Saiful said construction of the proposed permanent terminal at Diabari could take two to three years.
According to transport leaders, around 1,500 buses operate from Mohakhali. Between 100 and 200 remain out of service for maintenance at any given time, while around 400 stay at the terminal, another 400 remain in different districts and between 200 and 300 operate on various routes.

Dhaka’s existing inter-district bus terminals were established on the city’s outskirts in the 1980s. Rapid urban expansion has since brought them into densely populated areas, where they have become major sources of traffic congestion.

Under the current relocation plan, four outer bus terminals are expected to be established at Kanchpur, Hemayetpur, Bhaturia and Baghair.