Bus services on six routes in Barisal’s Charkauwa area have been suspended following a dispute over demands to restrict three-wheelers and battery-operated auto-rickshaws from using main roads, causing hardship for passengers.
Since Monday morning, bus owners and workers’ union members at the Charkauwa bus terminal in Barisal Sadar Upazila have halted services on the routes. Three-wheelers and battery-operated auto-rickshaws have also stopped operating in parts of the area.
Masum Majumdar, a representative of the Charkauwa Bus Workers’ Union, said a dispute broke out at the terminal on Sunday between bus workers and drivers of three-wheelers and battery-operated auto-rickshaws.
Bus owners and workers subsequently demanded that the smaller vehicles be barred from main roads, alleging that they were contributing to road accidents.
“Our position is that three-wheelers are frequently causing bus accidents. Furthermore, these vehicles often compete with buses on the road, which has led to an increase in accidents, resulting in injuries and deaths among ordinary passengers,” Majumdar said.
He said bus owners were also facing financial losses because of the cost of repairing vehicles damaged in accidents. Claiming that their longstanding demands had gone unaddressed, the workers called a strike, insisting that three-wheelers be restricted to branch roads.
Majumdar alleged that drivers of three-wheelers and auto-rickshaws had obstructed bus routes by placing trees across roads following the dispute. He also claimed that some bus drivers and their assistants had been assaulted.
The union is demanding action over the alleged incidents and has said the strike will continue until its demands are met.
However, Suman Sikdar, an e-rickshaw driver from Charamaddi in Barisal Sadar Upazila, said the vehicles had no alternative but to use the main road between Goma and Zero Point because there were no side roads along the route.
He alleged that bus operators frequently asked e-rickshaw drivers to move to side roads and had even attacked their vehicles. The main road is also used to transport patients seeking medical treatment, he added.
Sikdar said an e-rickshaw driver was assaulted on Sunday after taking a patient to the Charamaddi ferry terminal.
He alleged that bus owners and workers had long been obstructing e-rickshaw movement. In response, e-rickshaw drivers suspended their services and took to the road.
“No vehicles will be allowed to operate within Charamaddi Union until a proper and fair resolution is reached,” he said.
