Ayesha Siddika had been waiting for transport at the the Kazipara bus stand in the capital city for a half an hour. She was to go to Islamia Eye Hospital in Syedabad for an eye surgery.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, she said “I am not getting any CNG-run auto-rickshaw, let alone a bus. I got an auto-rickshaw and it would not go for less than Tk 800. It is a Tk 50 ride by bus. The surgery is at 10:00am. I cannot understand what I will do now. I feel so helpless.”
The woman vented her anger since the transport strike had not ended even after two days. “It is total negligence on the part of the government. There is no value of people in this country,” Ayesha Siddika lamented.
The energy ministry increased the price of diesel and kerosene by Tk 15 to Tk 80 a litre on 3 November. Since then, owners of various transport including buses, trucks and other cargo-carrying vehicles stopped operating their vehicles without any formal announcement, demanding a rise in fare.
Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader called for withdrawing the unofficial strike but leaders of transport associations did not pay heed to the call.
No announcement also came after the meeting of the truck association leaders with home minster Asaduzzaman Khan on Saturday. Instead, launch owners suspended operation of the vessels on inland waterways.
The strike rolled out on the third day on Sunday. No bus or goods-carrying transport were on the streets, causing sufferings to general people and traders. Women suffered more. Commuters travelled by rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and ride-sharing bikes, paying several times more than the regular fare.
People were seen waiting for transport in the capital’s Kazipara, Shwerapara, Mirpur and Farmgate on Sunday morning. Some rickshaw pullers or CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers were agreeing to take passengers, some of them did not. Those who agreed, were demanding high fares.
Buses run by Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) were plying on Dhaka streets. No vacant space was left in the buses. Once a bus arrived at a stop, everyone waiting there tried to get on board desperately. Many people were seen standing helplessly since they failed to board he bus.
Mohammad Helal Uddin would go to Arambag from Kazipara. Once a CNG-run auto-rickshaw arrived, he tried to stop it. He had been trying for sometimes, but couldn’t manage to get one.
Helal Uddin said he fell in trouble since he did not find any transport on the first working day of the week. He also tried several rickshaws instead of CNG-run auto-rickshaw but no rickshaw puller would go for a fare less than Tk 400.
Abed Siraj along with his seventh grader was waiting at Mirpur section 10. He was to receive his Covid vaccine today at a centre in Malibagh.
“I have been standing here for an hour. No one wants to go. Even rickshaws pullers and CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers do listen when you call them. I do not know how I will go,” Abed Siraj said.
A certain Abul Bashar said the government had failed to take any measures as yet. The government itself created the trouble by raising the fuel prices and then again their men enforced the strike.
Rafiq Rahman, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, demanded Tk 500 for a ride from Kazipara to Gulstan. He would not go for any less.
“The salaries of government service holders increases, our earnings do not. We do not get passengers all the time that is why I demanded a bit higher fare,” he said.