Commuters faced tremendous sufferings yesterday, as road and rail transportation was seriously disrupted on the first day of the opposition-called 48-hour road, rail and waterway blockade.
No train of the east zone of Bangladesh Railway (BR), except one, travelled between Dhaka and Chittagong. The BR authorities were forced to suspend three train schedules, as pickets blocked railway tracks and repeatedly carried out violence at different areas of the zone.
As a result, capital Dhaka and port city Chittagong were almost isolated from other parts of the country.
In the capital, the only people who left home were the ones who had no other choice. Although the number of commuters and vehicles gradually increased as the day progressed, tension prevailed among the commuters throughout the day.
“Tension grasped me as soon as I boarded this bus; although I waited long for a vehicle. It can happen, out of nowhere someone could hurl a petrol bomb or set this bus on fire,” said a panicked Ruhul Amin, a construction company official who boarded a bus from the Matsya Bhaban area.
The passengers – curious about the happenings across the city – also exchanged information about the incidents that occurred during the day.
“I was caught up in a fight between police and pickets at Bangshal. They hurled several cocktails. From there something hit my leg causing bleeding,” Rashedul, a small-trader said. Failing to catch a bus in the morning, Rashedul also had to spend four-times the usual bus fare on a rickshaw ride from Farmgate to Bangshal.
“Actually, nobody considers our sufferings. We feel helpless,” he said with a sigh of frustration.
Although no bus left Dhaka from the inter-district bus terminals, people were seen waiting at the terminals, hoping to catch a transport to go to district towns.
However, waterway communication stayed normal.
“So far 51 launches from different northern destinations reached the terminal. Thirteen vessels have left the ghat and 12 are scheduled to set sail. But these vessels got fewer passengers,” said Senior Deputy Director of the BIWTA Safiul Haque in the evening.
Elsewhere in Chittagong, no inter-city trains, except Meghna Express from Chandpur, arrived and left the Chittagong railway station.