Citizens of the capital had to undergo a huge suffering yesterday, the first day of 48-hour hartal enforced by main opposition BNP and its allies.

Commuters, especially the working people and students of universities and colleges, patients and people belonging to the low-income tier struggled to reach their destinations as the city streets remained devoid of vehicles due to fear of violent picketing.

Many people arrived in offices on foot while others on rickshaws and stray human hauliers. They suffered the same on their way back home.

Passengers of aircrafts that landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport suffered the most as they could not manage transportation for their destinations. Wearing look of insecurity and anxiety, many of them were seen standing in front of the airport with their luggage waiting for something to

get home. Some passengers were found sleeping in airport lobbies failing to find anything.

Patients and people wounded in accidents also had to suffer to get to hospitals. According to officials of different hospitals in the city, they witnessed much lesser num-berofoutpatientsyesterday.

Road crash victim Mohammad Mobarak of Habiganj arrived at Nitor hospital Tuesday around 9:00pm, nine hours before the hartal began, fearing loss of valuable time regarding his treatment.

“I passed the night at the hospital corridor as it was very urgent for me to see the doctors,” said Mobarak, who has been suffering from knee injury. He has to remain stuck in the capital till the hartal ends; that is 6:00am on Friday.

With a severe injury in the left foot, Mohammad Khairul, a garment worker of Hamim Group in Ashulia, had to wait for two hours before he found a CNG-run auto rickshaw to get to Nitor hospital amid hartal.

People of low-earning, mainly vendors and day labourers hadatoughdaytoo.

Till 3:00pm yesterday, vendor Anwarul Islam could not sell a single garment item as customers are too scarce on hartal days. “On usual days, I sell for around Tk 2,000 by now,”hesaid.

Another vendor Billal Hossain, who runs a family of seven, sold peanuts of only Tk 60 in Banani area till 3:30pm. He would have earned around Tk400attheendofthedayhad there been no hartal.

Plastic factory worker Mohammad Shameem of the city's Kamrangirchar was found waiting at Mohakhali intersection around 4:00pm to get on a vehicle to go to his village home at Sherpur.

“Imustgohomeas my elder brother is in serious condition. I have been waiting here for three hours and found nothing that can take me home," he said.

Mohammad Swapan Mia, employee of an insurance company, said, “I have spent Tk 260 by travelling on rickshaws so far, which on regular day would have cost me only Tk50 on public transports.”

Md Khairul Bashar, an official of Agrabad Accom-Consortium Ltd, had to go to office by different means of transportation and even on foot as his office unlike regular days did not allocate him transportation fearing violence on the street.