The government is struggling to ensure road and railway connectivity as the BNP-led 20-party alliance blockade has, with a combination of sabotage and intimidation, laid waste to long distance travel networks across the country.
Bus owners, saying their buses are facing attacks by blockade enforcers on the highways, are finding it difficult to operate their vehicles.
Bangladesh Railway timetables are unravelling because of sabotage to railway tracks and derailments.
The people, meanwhile, faced immense difficulty as the political deadlock ground transportation networks in the country to a virtual halt.
Home Ministry officials said they had told law enforcement agencies to beef up security on the highways.
State Minister of Home Affairs Asduzzaman Khan Kamal held several meetings with long haul bus service operators to restore regular services on long distance routes but sources said he did not get positive feedback from them.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and State Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Moshiur Rahman Ranga, both transport union leaders, also tried to persuade bus owners, even threatening to padlock bus counters if they refused to operate long haul services.
The Railway Ministry has assigned 8,000 Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) personnel to secure railway tracks across Bangladesh.
The Railway Ministry yesterday called an emergency meeting with high officials of the Home Ministry, LGRD Ministry, Finance Ministry and law enforcement agencies.
It identified thousands of risky points along the country’s 2,877 kilometres of railway track which they have decided to secure with the deployment of police, Ansar and VDP.
Road connectivity
Yesterday, a small number of long haul buses left Gabtoli Bus Terminal overcrowded with passengers.
But the more luxurious coaches, which industry sources said cost between Tk70 lakh and Tk1cr each, did not leave the terminal out of fear of pickets’ attacks.
Passengers faced serious disruptions to their travel plans. Some camped out at the terminal to wait it out while others returned home.
Ripon Saha, a passenger, said: “We were informed that some long haul bus services would be operated, but after getting to the terminal, I saw that they probably would not run. So I have decided to return home.”
Dhaka Bus-Truck Owners’ Association President Faruk Talukder Sohel, who owns Shohag Paribahan, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is not possible to run buses on the highways because of blockade enforcers’ attacks.”
“On Sunday, three of my buses were attacked by the pickets in Rangpur, Comilla and Chittagong,” he said.
Sohel said: “The government pressured us to keep long haul buses running and offered to compensate us for losses and to provide security for our buses.
“But thousands of kilometres of highway are not possible to secure and experience shows that if we lose Tk70 lakh, the government will compensate us no more than Tk7 lakh.”
Rail connectivity
Bangladesh Railway is facing a collapse of its schedule, with virtually every train failing to leave or arrive on time.
Railway authorities said of the 62 trains that daily depart from Kamalapur Railway Station, none left the station on time.
At Kamalapur Railway Station, the capital’s main station, throngs of people were seen yesterday around noon waiting on the platform, some for hours on end.
Passengers on every train that arrived at Kamalapur station were packed like sardines.
Believing the railway to be the safest bet amid the blockade violence, passengers swarmed the already-overcrowded trains, even clambering onto the rooftops.
“Most trains are running off schedule. Trains reaching and leaving the station are overcrowded,” Nripen Chandra Saha, the station master, said.
During the last few days, sabotage on the tracks disrupted Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Sylhet and Rajshahi-Joypurhat services.
“To protect trains and railway tracks from sabotage and to ensure the safety of the passengers, we have assigned 8,000 Ansar and VDP personnel to secure risky points along the tracks all over the country. A patrolling and piloting system has been started as well,” Railway Minister Md Mujibul Haque said yesterday.
He said: “We have taken legal action against the culprits responsible for the derailment.
“I have been informed by police that BNP-Jamaat activists were involved in sabotaging the railway tracks. We are trying to avoid a schedule collapse.”
He said the ministry would ensure that the railway’s 334 daily services would be operated whatever the cost.
