Inter-district buses won’t enter Dhaka

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh has said that inter-district buses will no longer be allowed to enter the capital city Dhaka. He said these buses will bring up till the bus terminals at the periphery of the city and turn back to their destinations. This will relieve some of the traffic pressure on Dhaka city, he said.

The DSCC mayor was speaking at the 13th meeting of the Bus Route Rationalisation committee on Tuesday at the Buriganga Hall in Nagar Bhaban.

Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said the inter-district buses will bring the passengers up to the bus terminals at the periphery of the city. From there the passengers will use city service buses or MRT or other ride services to go to their destinations within the city. This will relieve some of the traffic pressure on the city. He said that the Bus Route Rationalisaton programme would hopefully be visible by next year.

He went on to say that a preliminary proposal had been given to the Bus Route Rationalisation committee for the 291 bus routes in the capital city to be reduced to 42 and that the buses of 2,500 bus owners be accommodated in 22 companies. He said, “A preliminary report has been given to the Bus Route Rationalisaton committee and we have scrutinized that carefully. Buses of 2,500 bus owners move on 291 routes of Dhaka city at present. It has been proposed that these be reduced to 42 routes and 22 companies. If this proposal is implemented, the present bus owners will become shareholders of the companies.”

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has the Mohakhali and Gabtali bus terminals and DSCC has only the Syedabad bus terminal, the mayor said, adding, “The terminals are not enough to accommodate all the buses and so the buses are parked here and there along the roads. This creates serious traffic jams. We discussed these matters at today’s meeting. A feasibility study for the construction of inter-district bus terminals as proposed by the DTCA-appointed consultant, will be completed by March next year. After that we will proceed with the next plan of action.”

DNCC mayor Atiqul Islam joined the meeting online and gave his input. The committee members also present at the meeting were DMP commissioner Mohd Shafiqul Islam, BRTA chairman Nur Mohammad Majumdar, BRTC chairman Md Ahsan Elahi, RAJUK chairman Md Sayeed Nur Alam, Bus Route Rationalisation committee’s member secretary and DTCA executive director Khandakar Rakibur Rahman, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association secretary general Khandakar Enayet Ullah, and others.