Sadarghat terminal turns a nightmare

Sadarghat terminal has become a nightmare for long-haul launch passengers as porters and middlemen take control of the luggage just at the entrance and charge whatever money they wish to carry those up to the vessels.
Passengers do not have any choice and refusal to pay the charged money or asking for the money receipt will just invite more hassles. Incidents of manhandling or physical assaults are not rare. Remedies are no where in sight and passengers are to obey the goons in disguise of porters, who are attached to a ruling party-backed labourers’ front.
Law enforcers have also a hand in the game, terminal people and passengers alleged.
‘I had to pay Tk 250 to porters for carrying a television set inside the terminal. Besides, I also paid Tk 20 as labour charge here,’ said Shahadat Ali, a Barisal bound passenger told New Age.
They demanded Tk 600 and after bargaining, he managed them paying Tk 250. ‘We are totally helpless here,’ he said.
The hassle starts just from arrival and continues until departure in almost all stages of the journey.
As soon as the passengers arrive at the entrance of terminal, porters surround them and start dragging their bags and others valuables to carry those to launches, but after carrying these goods up to the vessels, the porters become different men and charge money at their will, passengers said.
‘When I refused to give my bag to a porter, he misbehaved with me and started dragging my bag. After carrying it up to the launch, he charged Tk 40. I was helpless and forced to pay the sum,’ Rumana Ahsan, a passenger said.
Tabibur Rahman, a Patuakhali-bound passenger said he had to pay Tk 600 to porters for carrying a sofa set inside. ‘They asked for Tk 1000. When I asked for money receipt, some porters started dragging my luggage outside the terminal. At last I had to pay Tk 600,’ he said.
Some passengers alleged that terminal labourers roughed up some passengers for refusal to pay extra charges for carrying goods.
The charge for carrying luggage weighing one quintal or less from the entrance up to the vessel is Tk 10, according to the chart of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.
Delwar Hossain, a labour leader of Dhaka Ghat Shramik League, a pro-Awami League labour organisation, said they were compelled to charge extra money from passengers as they had taken the terminal on one-year lease from the government paying Tk 4.41 crore till June next year.
‘We are not harassing passengers. We have to realise the lease money at any cost,’ he said.
About 800 porters are working in the terminal under the banner of Sadarghat Shramik League.
A senior official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Dhaka Port, who did not want to be named, said passengers are made hostage to labourers and middlemen here for long.
‘All labourers always belong to the party in power. They behave like goons with passengers,’ he said.
The BIWTA official found fault with the leasing arrangement with a labour organisation and termed it illogical.
The government has allowed a service providing organisation to become a revenue earning sector, pushing waterway passengers into troubles, the official said.
He said everyday some 50-55 launches leave Sadarghat in Dhaka for different destinations of the country’s southern region.
A subinspector of Sadarghat police outpost, Mahbubur Rahman, said nobody approached them with any allegation.
Many passengers alleged that the staffers force them to travel by their launches. ‘I wanted to go to Barisal by a Sundarban launch, but the staffers of Kalam Khan dragged my bag into their vessel. It seems that passengers choice have no value here,’ said Andaliv Abir, a passenger.
Besides, many passengers alleged that they lost their belongings from launches. ‘My mobile handset and bag were stolen while I was asleep on the deck. The launch people did not pay heed to my complaints,’ he alleged.
At the Sadarghat launch terminal, the prices of food items are much higher than that outside.
Snatchers and pickpockets are also among the unwanted crowds. The terminal turns into a den of drug addicts at night.
Sufferings of long haul passengers do not stop at the terminal.
‘A CNG [autorickshaw] driver has charged Tk 120 to go to Shahbagh. None agrees to keep meter on. We are helpless here,’ said Anwar Azim, who came from Patuakhali.

Courtesy of NewAgebd