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EVICTION OF BUS COUNTERS

Bus operators at loggerheads with DCC

SULTANA RAHMAN
***Bus operators are ready to cooperate with the DCC if it wants to build passenger shades in the city****
A conflict between Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and bus owners associations over the eviction of ticket counters from the streets has created sufferings to commuters.
The bus owners have threatened to go on a half-day bus strike on April 15 and a full day strike on April 21 protesting the DCC move to evict the counters.
The DCC on March 3 evicted around 500 counters from the city footpaths. Thirty six bus operators had set up the counters to sell tickets for 34 routes.
Most of the operators are now selling tickets sitting under umbrellas on the footpaths.
After the eviction, the passengers crowd over each other’s head to purchase tickets but the practice was more systematic before the counters were removed. When a bus arrives, passengers scramble to get on the bus and women passengers cannot compete with men.
"I'm waiting here for half an hour to get a bus. Two buses have already come and left this stop but I failed to board," said Labony Nishat, a passenger, at Farmgate.
DCC officials said they have evicted the ticket counters to uphold the city's beauty. Besides, the counters were illegally set up on footpaths creating hazards to pedestrians.
"There are complaints that pedestrians cannot walk on the footpaths occupied by these tickets counters," said DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
Bus operators however said when the city beautification programme was on, DCC had
asked them to colour the counters but later it evicted the counters.
"It's a contradictory decision on the part of DCC. In fact they want to impose charges for setting up ticket counters," alleged an owner of a bus company.
Officials of the Association of Bus Companies (ABC), said they have renovated and painted the
counters after receiving the DCC instruction.
"If they would evict the counters why did they ask us to renovate the counters?" asked Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury, joint convenor of ABC.
He said the bus operators are ready to cooperate with the DCC if it wants to build passenger
shades in the city.
The ABC has already announced programmes in protest against the eviction. The bus operators will stage a black-flag protest today before going for strike.
"We'll withdraw the programmes if the authorities meet our demands and allow us to set up the counters again," Chowdhury said.
Sources said DCC and the communication ministry are trying to negotiate with the ABC for withdrawal of the strikes. The mayor is expected to set a date for negotiation with the ABC leaders today.