Most public transports in Dhaka, especially the transports carrying government employees, are not maintaining health guidelines properly.
This is the scenario on Sunday -- the first day after the lockdown following the coronavirus pandemic was lifted in the country.
No social distancing is being maintained in most of the buses of the government employees. Passengers were supposed to sit leaving a seat empty on each side, but no one was following that.
Moreover, no hand sanitizers or disinfectants were seen at the entrance of the vehicles, many did not even have them. Health guidelines are maintained at personal level only.
A government organization’s staff bus, seen at the Fakirapul junction of the city, did not have any sitting arrangement for passengers to maintain the required physical distance.
Meanwhile, a bus of the National Sports Council, holding number plate 11-0306, was completely occupied with passengers with no seats left vacant.
A similar scenario was seen in a staff bus of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)
Seeking anonymity an officer of DSCC said most of the government buses run on lease and each of the seats in every bus are allocated for a single employee. So, no one wants to take the risk of losing his or her seat in the name of social distancing.
High officials will probably allocate more buses, so that the staff can secure a safe trip to their respective offices, he added.