Commuters suffer as vehicles go off road ahead of BNP rally

Md Monir had to wait for more than one hour for a bus at the capital's Banglamotor intersection on Thursday afternoon. The salesman from a shop at Hatirpool needed to go to Shewrapara.

He said the only bus that crossed the intersection in the meantime was filled with passengers. Its gate was also locked.

"I came here at 1pm, now it is 2.15pm. The only bus I saw during that time had no space inside as it was completely packed. So, it did not stop for me," he said.

"Every day I use to get several buses as soon as I stand here. But there is no bus today," he added.

Passengers of other routes also faced the same problem in the city as very few public vehicles were seen on the streets a day after the clash between police and BNP activists in Nayapaltan. 

Many people had to walk and use alternative vehicles including rickshaws to reach their destination.

"We are waiting for a Gulistan bound bus for more than an hour. The bus services may be halted for the BNP rally," said Anwar, who was standing in front of the Birdem Hospital in Shahbagh with his wife.

However, transport owners say the reason for less vehicles in the street is the lack of passengers.

Md Harun-or-Rashid, chairman of Bikash Paribahan, said, "All our buses were in the streets in the morning. But as the day progressed, the number of passengers declined. With so few passengers, it would have been hard to even meet the oil costs."

Meanwhile, Md Shawkat Ali Babul, joint secretary of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, told The Business Standard, "Many bus owners thought that there could be processions on the streets and their buses could be vandalised. Many buses that cross through the Paltan area were halted today."

Meanwhile, Mostafizur Rahman, assistant commissioner of Gulshan traffic zone, said that the traffic movement seemed normal throughout the day.

"It is not chaotic but you cannot say that the road was empty. Probably, few people have come out of their homes and that is why we are not experiencing the traffic congestion," he added.

No transport strike ahead of BNP's 10 Dec rally

The Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association has decided to keep traffic movements normal during BNP's 10 December rally in Dhaka.

"Vehicular movements in Dhaka city, suburbs and on inter-district routes will remain normal," said Khandkar Enayet Ullah, general secretary of the association after an emergency meeting on Thursday.

However, the bus owners demanded restriction of bus movements arguing that BNP-Jamaat activists indulged in arson violence during political programmes in the past.

They also said they would be guarding every bus terminal in the city to prevent recurrence of any such activities this time.

Khandkar Enayet Ullah requested the authorities concerned to strengthen the security measures at the important points of the city so that the movement of vehicles is not obstructed on Saturday.

Police search continues

Meanwhile, police continued search activities in the vehicles entering the capital especially long-distance buses and motorcycles ahead of the BNP rally to be held on 10 December.

Passengers of long-distance buses are being interrogated and their bags are being searched with metal detectors. Besides, the bags of the pedestrians are also being searched if they seem suspicious.

Earlier on Tuesday at a press briefing the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Khandoker Golam Faruq told the media that they would set up check posts at every entry point of the capital to foil any kind of subversive activities.

However, several officials of DMP told TBS that they have set up checkpoints in some places like Jatrabari, Shonir Akhra, Tongi, Uttara, Gabtoli, Purbachal and some other places of Dhaka.

"The surveillance has been beefed up as tensions worsened after a clash between police and BNP men took place on Wednesday. But police are not harassing anyone, they just check and search, it's all about maintaining law and order," a deputy commissioner of DMP's crime division said, wishing anonymity.