Staff Reporter :In accordance with government’s plan, special bus and rickshaw services have been introduced at Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Niketon areas in the city’s Diplomatic Zone keeping adjustment with the heightened security following July 1 terror attack. LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain inaugurated the circular bus and rickshaw services on Wednesday. In this regard, a total of 20 Air-Conditioned [AC] buses and 500 special rickshaws will hit the roads of city’s Diplomatic enclave. The new bus service named ‘Dhaka Chaka’ was inaugurated at around 12:15pm at a programme in Gulshan-1 along with the special rickshaw service. Dhaka North City Corporation [DNCC] Mayor Annisul Haque presided over the function.Officials said, the bus service will be plied by private operators introduced under the coordination of DNCC in assistance of four local communities of Gulshan, Baridhara, Banani and Niketan. At the same time, adequate numbers of security staff have been deployed in the area, who would patrol round-the-clock to oversee the new transporting system, they said.Each AC bus has 35 seats. The buses will follow two routes– one from Police Plaza to Gulshan-2 and another from Kakoli Crossing to Nutan Bazar. Passengers will get buses after 10 minutes. Fare of the AC buses has been fixed at Tk 15 for all routes. In the first phase, ten buses have started operation. Ten other new buses would join the fleet within August 20.Apart from bus service, 200 rickshaws will be plied at Gulshan, 200 at Banani and 50 each at Baridhara and Niketan. The rickshaws have been painted with yellow [upper portion] and black [lower portion] colours. Meanwhile, the authorities have also collected details information about the rickshaw owners and pullers. There would be three pullers for one rickshaw who will ply the vehicle rotation basis. The fare chart has also been pasted at each rickshaw. The rickshawpullers will be dressed with orange-colour uniform. The authorities has taken the above initiatives as police banned bus operation in Gulshan and Banani areas for security reasons following the July 1 militant attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in the city’s Gulshan that left 22 people, including 17 foreigners, killed.Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque who attended the programme urged all families and guardians to monitor the activities of their children, so that they do not get involved with militant and terror activities.’If the behaviour of your child changes or you find it suspicious, monitor them closely and if needed seek help from police,’ the IGP said. After the Gulshan attack, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Chief Asaduzzaman Mia said that the police were barring entry of public transport in the areas and will launch separate services for the zone.
