Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Commuters of the capital city are facing problems as thin public transport has been plying since the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) started drive against unfit vehicles and errant drivers across the country, including Dhaka city.
Majority of the vehicles remained off the road as the drive entered third day on Wednesday, hindering smooth movement of the commuters particularly the office-goers and students.
The transporters kept their unfit or faulty vehicles stationed to skip punishment resulting shortage of public transport, including buses and minibuses, in the city than the normal working day. A large number of commuters, who were stranded at the different busiest bus stoppages, including Framgate, Mirpur-10, Kalyanpur, Mahakhali, Moghbazar, Mohammadpur Shahbagh and Jatrabari, however expressed their displeasure over the poor availability of public transport.
Many said shortage of public transport has increased their hardships as they have no alternative mode to reach their working places offices or for going homes.
Commuters however said that they have no problem with the drive but the authorities should be taken precautionary measures to ensure availability of the public transport.
Jahangir Alam, a driver of a public transport, told The New Nation yesterday that he could not take the risk of going on a trip as his bus did not have fitness certificate.
Meanwhile, the Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the government has introduced 250 buses in Dhaka considering sufferings of the commuters.
“These buses have introduced to plug the gap,” he added.
He also admitted that the number of buses on local routes has come down sharply during the government’s crackdown over the past three days.
Obaidul Quader has urged the people to bear with the lack of public transport during the ongoing government crackdown on unfit vehicles and drivers without licences.
He says the drive will continue throughout the year.
“This drive will take place at any time, at any place. It will continue no matter how much the opposition is,” he asserted this while visiting the drive in Gazipur on Wednesday.
Quader admitted that the crackdown was causing public suffering.
“Intolerable traffic jam is causing losses of money and work hour. We must be firm in this situation. Minor inconveniences during the drive are temporary. Everyone will forget about them once the drive starts yielding benefits,” the minister said.
Currently, more than 21 lakh vehicles are registered with BRTA and of which about 3.13 lakh are unfit vehicles. Of them, at least 93,000 are plying in the capital, according to BRTA sources.
