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Commuting within city pushed to a chaos

Many city buses kept ojfthe roads; passengers harassed

Staff Correspondent
Thousands of city dwellers faced untold sufferings as almost all public transport remained off the streets since yesterday morning ahead of the BNP's grand rally today.
A few public buses were seenplyingthe streets. Bus owners decided to keep their services suspended fearing violence,
restrictions imposed by ruling party men and police requisition.
Office and school-goers suffered the most as they found it extremely difficult to board the few crowded buses.
Many were seen waiting for buses for hours at different bus stops and intersections in the city. People in their hundreds walked miles to reach their destinations.
Long-route bus services on most routes from Dhaka also remained suspended. Most local buses on different routes, including Motijheel-Mirpur, Gulistan-Uttara, Motijheel- Gabtoli, Gabtoli-Dhamrai and Savar-Nabinagar, did not hit the roads.
Only a few state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) buses plied the city streets.
Taxies, CNG-run three wheelers also plied, but in much less time than their usual hours. Rickshaws, taxis and CNG-auto-rickshaws charged almost double their normal fares.
Many were seen waiting at Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Jatrabari bus terminals to go to their hometowns. Failing to get a bus, many returned home. Some even walked to Kamalapur Railway Station from Sayedabad and Jatrabari terminals to board trains to their separate destinations.
Rahim Mia along with his daughter and a grandson was seen waiting at Shahbagh intersection for a bus to go to his Pallabi residence.
“We have been waiting here for an hour to board a bus. Unfortunately, we could not get on any," he told The Daily Star, expressing grave anxiety.
“I came to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University to see my ailing wife. Now I am wondering how to return home as I do not have enough money to hire a taxi or a CNG-run autorickshaw," Rahim, clad in a lungi, added.
At Mirpur-12, Nazrul Islam, an official of a private company, expressed his helplessness thus: “What should I do now? I have to go to my Gulshan office within an hour to attend an important meeting."
“I have been waiting here for over an hour for a bus. The taxis and CNG-run auto rickshaws either are charginghigh fares or refusing to go,” he added.
Sujana Rahman, a student at a private university at Banani, said she had failed to get into any bus or other transport to go to her university. "Now I am walking back home,” she added.
Even patients, who had to go to hospitals, also faced sufferings.
“I waited for half an hour to hire a taxicab to take my colleague to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after he had suffered burn injuries while working at our welding workshop at Badda," said a staff of the workshop at the DMCH yesterday.
“Hater hired an ambulance at Tk 1,200 to take my colleague to the hospital,” he added.
In Azampur, Uttara, around 50-60 people were seen waiting for a bus around 2:30pm. As soon as a bus approached, all of them started elbowing each other to get into the bus.
“Is this a way of doing politics? The politicians are making our lives hell by their anti-people programme, turning us into hostages,” said one of the commuters, venting his anger.
Meanwhile, leaders of the 14-party grand alliance offered their apologies to the nation over the sufferings of the latter.