Dhaka is grappling with a pressing issue that is causing great inconvenience to commuters. A significant portion of the public transportation fleet operating on the city's streets lacks the required fitness and is in a deplorable condition.
These buses, both in terms of their overall state and the environment inside, present a shabby picture.
Many of them feature broken windows, damaged seats, and a general lack of cleanliness, making the journey unhygienic and uncomfortable.
Furthermore, issues such as broken bus bodies, malfunctioning brake lights, and indicator lights further highlight the dismal state of these vehicles.
Despite their unfit conditions, these buses continue to serve passengers on various routes within the capital.
Commuters are left with no choice but to board these dirty and shaky buses, enduring multiple hardships along the way.
Unfortunately, alternative options are limited, leaving them with no viable alternatives.
This dire situation is well-known to all, yet the concerned authorities seem indifferent to the plight of the commuters.
Conditions of city buses
Prottoy Transport Limited operates buses on the Gabtali to Babubazar route (A-289).
Unfortunately, almost every bus in their fleet is in a state of disrepair. Passengers experience dirty and uncomfortable environments, with broken windows and no seat covers.
While bus Supervisor Nasir Sheikh claims their buses are in fair condition, the reality faced by passengers tells a different story.
“Some are a little broken. I asked the owner to repair it, but the owner said - now he has no money. The bus will be repaired when he has money. And the presence of dust is also high on this road, so the buses get dirty quickly,” he said.
Bangla TribuneMd Russell, the driver of Prottoy Bus, said: "Even if our bus is repaired, it will not last long. A bus hits another bus on the road. It continues on roads on a regular basis.”
The Gabtali Express bus (Route No A-188/190) running from Savar EPZ to Linkroad via Gabtali, Farmgate, and Shahbagh faces similar problems.
Unclean environments and cramped seating arrangements plague these buses. Passengers suffer from exposure to sun, dust, and rain due to broken windows. The bus company's management seems unresponsive to requests for improvements.
Another bus service, Victor Classic (Route No A/436), operates from Sadarghat to Bypile. While a few buses in their fleet are in better condition, most are dilapidated, unclean, and lack functioning brake lights. Additionally, these buses emit black smoke, contributing to the city's pollution woes.
Passenger sufferings
These unfit buses are not limited to specific routes or companies. Multiple bus services, including Shikar Paribahan Service Limited (Mirpur 12 to Jatrabari), Akash Enterprises (Kadamtali-Diabari), Ajmeri Glory (Sadarghat-Chandra), and Tanzil Paribahan (Zoo-Sadarghat), continue to operate with substandard vehicles, adding to the plight of commuters.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Manjur Quader, an on-duty traffic police officer at the Purana Paltan intersection, acknowledges that bus bodies often sustain damage due to collisions on the roads.
Bangla TribuneUnfortunately, bus drivers frequently disregard traffic laws, leading to accidents and non-compliance with regulations. Despite this, the number of cases filed against these buses remains unknown, and little change seems to have taken place.
Passengers share their firsthand experiences of the challenges they face. Md Arif, a commuter on the Gabtali Express, expresses his dissatisfaction with the dirty environment and overcrowding during office hours.
Another passenger, Sukanta, shares similar sentiments, highlighting the poor conditions and lack of glass windows on buses like Gabtali Express.
The condition of these buses, operating recklessly in the capital, seems to go unnoticed. Passengers often blame bus drivers and workers for this. And the drivers and workers say that they are not able to provide the desired service to the passengers due to the owners.
But the owners deny their responsibility and blame the city transport situation for the mismanagement.
However, all stakeholders also question the role of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and blame their indifference.
What the authorities say?
In the ongoing fight against unfit buses and irregularities in public transportation, authorities face numerous challenges and allegations.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) encounters barriers from transport owners and workers during campaigns to tackle these issues head-on.
When the mobile court takes action, a sudden reduction in the number of buses on the roads occurs. This decrease, along with complaints about the effectiveness of the BRTA's operations, raises concerns about the impact of these measures.
Bangla TribuneTo shed light on the matter, Mahbub-e-Rabbani, director of Road Safety at the BRTA, emphasizes that regular raids and mobile courts are conducted as part of their efforts to combat unauthorized vehicles. Contrary to the perception that they are idle, the BRTA actively works to ensure unfit vehicles are not allowed to operate on the roads.
However, he acknowledged that the main responsibility for monitoring these unfit vehicles falls on the police.
Joydev Chowdhury, deputy police commissioner of the Ramna Traffic Division, clarifies the role of the BRTA in issuing fitness certificates for vehicles.
While they do not directly issue these certificates, they conduct regular raids as part of their ongoing work. Any vehicles found without the required fitness are subjected to legal action, including filing cases and seizing the unfit buses.