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Turning journey to their sweet home bitter

Unfit, old buses often go out of order, leave passengers on highways

ZAHANGIR Shah, Manikganj
Unfit and old buses plying Dhaka-Aricha highway often go out of order on the way, much to the sufferings of passengers heading for south and south-western districts.
During the last couple of days, this correspondent found quite a few of such buses stranded beside the highway while the passengers including women and children waiting for a couple of hours for alternative buses.
A bus of Saad Paribahan left Gabtoli of Dhaka for Faridpur at around 8:45am on Friday but it went out of order with engine problem after two and a half hours at Pachuria in Ghior upazila under Manikganj district.
The passengers had to wait for a couple hours for getting on alternative buses in phases.
"Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, I along with my husband and children started for our Faridpur home earlier as my children's school is close. The bus left half an hour late. It went out of order after two and a half hours," said Rita Begum, a resident ofNarayanganj.
Several other passengers of the bus -- Champa Begum, Rezaul Haque and Nilu Sheikh of Boalmari, Deepika Kunda, Sheikh
Shahjahan, and Boni Amin of Alfadanga of Faridpur also told of their ordeal.
A few children were seen crying.
There is no food shop around. There is no toilet in the area either.
The suffering passengers urged the authorities concerned to stop plying of unfit vehicles on roads.
There are allegations that the owners of the unfit and old buses send their buses to workshops ahead of Eid to make those appear new and
use them for transporting passengers on the highways.
This correspondent found workers of two workshops at Uchutia and
Bhatbaur busy repairing old and unfit buses.
"We got ten old and unfit buses this year for making those new. After five or six days, we can hand over the buses to the owners," said Nazrul Islam, a repairman at the workshop at Bhatbaur.
Artist Munnaf, who was seen writing on newly coloured old buses, said he
gets handsome amount every year ahead of Eid to do the job.
"Old and unfit vehicles come on the busy highway ahead of Eid every year from different districts. The authorities should stop plying of these unfits buses," Babul Sarker, president of Manikganj District Road Transport Workers' Union.
Police superintendent of Manikganj Bidhan Tripura said his patrol team will see the matter.