A huge number of people faced tremendous sufferings on Sunday, the first working day of the week, as the bus operators of four districts under Mymensingh division had decided not to ply Dhaka-bound buses till uncertain period demanding renovation of the potholed and dilapidated Joydevpur-Tongi road on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in Gazipur. Mymensingh District Motor Owners Association — a platform of bus owners of Sherpur, Mymensingh, Netrakona and Jamalpur districts – announced the decision when it becomes almost impossible to ply public transports on the route. Earlier on January 2, Mymensingh District Motor Owners Association and Mymensingh Chamber of Commerce and Industry had decided to enforce the strike for the same reason. They had said the public transport movement was being disrupted and an additional fuel worth Tk 1.61 crore was being wasted every day due to the dilapidated condition of the road from Salna to Tongi. The demand of bus owners is nothing new or any impractical one.
So far we know, on an average seven passenger carrying vehicles ply Joydevpur-Tongi road every minute. That means a total of 420 vehicles ply the road per hour and 10,080 vehicles in 24 hours. Due to dilapidated condition of road, each vehicle has to spend 20 more litres of extra fuel every day to go through the traffic jam. In total 2,01,600 litres of fuel is additionally spent for vehicles and the daily expenditures increase by Tk 61,28,000. This is going on for several years but surprising to all — no one paid any heed to it. The bus owners have to spend the money for without any justified reason. As it becomes a regular practice, the owners have reportedly become incapable to pay off monthly instalments of loans they had taken to buy vehicles. In fact, the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway is other name of public sufferings where it needs 5/6 hours to reach Gazipur from Airport. The huge long traffic jam ultimately chokes the thoroughfares of the capital too.
The Gazipur City Corporation always blames the ongoing Rapid Transit Project for present agony. It’s hard to believe only 12km project could not be completed in half a decade. The tenure of this project has been extended for another six months till June 2022. Projects are taken for making money and the tenures of the projects are extended for making more money. It becomes a system in our country where people’s suffering doesn’t matter. The everlasting greed for money is the main reason for today’s agony. This project is one of the several examples.
