Commuters suffered severely on the first day of opposition enforced 72-hour road, rail and waterway blockade programme on Saturday due to shortage of public transports.
During the second spate of the blockade, roads in the capital were almost out of the vehicles causing immense suffering to commuters who came out of their homes in spite of the blockade programme as they had go to their work.
No bus left from the capital on the long route though several bus counters were open at Sayedabad bus terminal.
Habib Mia, counter manager of Falguni Paribahan, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We did not think that any blockade or hartal would occur on Saturday. Now the customers are returning tickets and we are returning them the money.”
Hedayetullah, an hotelier, said: “I have been waiting for almost an hour for a bus to go to Daudkandi, but, it seems now I have to take a van.
If I do not reach on time my shop will be closed and that would result in serious loss.”
The Sadarghat launch terminal was also found almost empty.
Saiful Haque Khan, senior deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, told the Dhaka Tribune that the political programmes did not affect the river route much, however, most of the launches plying on route were out of passengers.
Shah-Alam, a passenger waiting at the terminal said Egal-2, tha launch which was scheduled to leave the terminal for Chandpur around 11.15am was delayed by two hours for dearth of passengers. According to sources at the terminal, around 24 launches left the terminal on Saturday.
Taking advantage of the transport crisis, the vehicle drivers demanded soaring rates to the passengers.
“From Gabtoli bus terminal to Azimpur it hardly costs Tk200 even if the CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver charges extra in the early morning. But on Sunday, he charged Tk350,” said Khalilur
Rahman, who arrived at Gabtoli bus terminal from Patuakhali on Saturday morning.
He said many of the passengers walked with baggage and family members. Very few passengers were lucky enough to get a bus.
“When we board on the bus on Friday night we knew that there was no hartal or blockade on Saturday. Now, I wonder that we had actually taken a huge risk by riding a bus on the highway just the night before the violent blockade,” he said.
Rickshaws were found plying on the VIP roads all the daylong.
At Kamalapur railway station trains were late by one to three hours to reach the station from various parts of the capital.
Khairul Bashir, station manager, said Akota Express, Rangpur Express were late. Turna Nishitha from Chittagong was supposed to reach at 7:40am, but it reached two hours late.
The trains were supposed to leave the station in the morning but Bangladesh Railway authority shuffled the schedule.
They said they were compelled to so fearing violence as in many places pickets had set fire on the railway lines during the previous spate of bloackade.
