M Humayun Kabir: Dhaka commuters have been facing untold sufferings following the ongoing shutdown of bus services by transport owners and workers in response to student protests for safer roads.
As on previous days, the shutdown also left hundreds of passengers stranded on district roads and highways yesterday, reports bdnews24.com.
Following the deaths of two college students in a bus accident in Dhaka on July 29, students vandalised several vehicles on the day.
Since Friday, bus operators started an unannounced shutdown.
“No buses are operating out of the three inter-district bus terminals in the capital,” Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association Joint Secretary Shawkat Ali Babul told bdnews24.com on Sunday. “No buses are coming to Dhaka from other districts either.”
“We have no security on the roads, so we cannot provide our bus services. We will not resume services until the situation improves.”
bdnews24.com spoke to Abdul Mannan, who was headed from Haluaghat to Dhaka, at the Mymensingh Patgudam Bus Terminal.
“I’m going to see a relative at Dhaka Medical College Hospital,” he told bdnews24.com. “I haven’t been able to.”
Mymensingh Transport Motors Owner Association President Momtaz Uddin Sarkar said bus services will return to normal after the student protests stand down, the transport leader said.
Magura Motor Workers Union President Emdadur Rahman Molla said no long-haul buses have left Magura since morning. Half the bus counters are closed, he added.
Imdadur, owner of Shohag Paribahan counter, said that the counters are lying idle because transport owners aren’t allowing any buses to operate.