Ctg Transport Strike: Commuters suffer badly

Leaders of Chittagong Regional Committee of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation postponed their 24-hour transport strike in Chittagong and four other districts yesterday afternoon, around nine hours after it began.

They postponed the strike after a meeting with Additional Commissioner (traffic) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Masood-ul-Hasan, Superintendent of Police in Chittagong Nure Alam Mina and other top police officials.

Mohammad Musa, president of the federation, said they made the move after police officials assured them of taking steps to meet their demands.

To meet other demands, they would hold a meeting with the authorities concerned by December 4, he added.

Meanwhile, people in the districts suffered a lot to reach their destinations due to the strike that began from 6:00am. 

Hafeza Begum, 41, and her two daughters started for their workplace around 7:00am yesterday from the city's Agrabad area like every other day.  

The three, who work at a garment factory in the city's C&B area, somehow reached Bahaddarhat on foot or by auto-tempo around 9:30am.   

They then changed their decision not to go to their workplace and started coming back home, thinking that the sufferings they already experienced on the streets might be severe at night when they returned home from the factory.   

“It takes 7:00pm or more to leave the factory. In this situation [scarcity of transports], how will I return with my two daughters? Thinking this, we are returning home instead of going to the factory,” said exhausted Hafeza while talking to this correspondent in Sholoshahar Gate-2 area around 10:15am.

The three were walking towards their home through CDA Avenue.

“We have no other choice but walking as it is impossible for us to travel by rickshaw, spending extra,” she further said. 

Like Hafeza and her two daughters, hundreds of people had to undergo untold sufferings yesterday due to the transport strike.

On Saturday, leaders of Chittagong Regional Committee of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation announced the strike in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban to press home their nine-point demand, including construction of terminals for bus, truck, prime-mover and trailer, providing appointment letters to transport workers by owners, stopping harassment of transport workers by police and registering the unregistered CNG-run auto-rickshaws. 

Visiting different areas in the city, including Muradpur, Gate-2, GEC Intersection, Wasa Intersection, Ispahani Intersection and Oxygen Intersection, this correspondent found immense sufferings of the commuters in the morning as there were no public transports, except rickshaws and private cars. Only a handful of auto-tempos were seen plying different streets.

As the people were compelled to go to their destinations either on foot or by rickshaws, rickshaw-pullers charged them extra.

"I went to Ispahani Intersection from the city's Gate-2 area as I had an urgent task there. It took me Tk 60 to go there by a rickshaw whereas it normally needs Tk 40 to Tk 45,” said Mohammad Ishaq, a resident of Gate-2 area in the city.     

Shawkatul Islam, a bank employee, arrived in Muradpur area by a rickshaw-van from his home in Aturar Depot area around 9:45am, finding no other transports after about an hour long wait.

“My office time is at 10:00am and I have to reach Chawkbazar by then … So I boarded the rickshaw-van as there were no other transports,” said Shawkatul.

"I don't know how will I go to my office at Chawkbazar from here [Muradpur]? It is very much boring and painful," he added.