Bus services resume on CMP assurance
Thousands of commuters in the port city suffered major disruption yesterday as a section of transport owners enforced a strike after some passengers vandalised two city buses over charging extra fares.
They however called off the two-day halt yesterday evening.
All modes of public transport stayed off the streets throughout the day. People only came to know about the strike when they came out in the morning to reach their destinations.
Bus owners cited insecurity of their vehicles and staff as the reasons for holding up the bus service.
At around 8:00am, Kazi Samsul Islam of Chittagong College was waiting at Bahaddarhat intersection to take his honours first year final examination scheduled for 9:00am.
“I have been waiting here for over 40 minutes to get a transport, but I don’t know whether I will be able to reach the examination centre in time,” said a frustrated Samsul.
Garment worker Asma Begum did not know about the strike and was wondering about how to reach her office in Agrabad as she could not take a bus from GEC intersection.
She alleged drivers of CNG-run three-wheelers took undue advantage of the strike charging double the normal fares. “A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver asked for Tk 100 to go to my office, whereas the usual fare is Tk 50.”
The bus owners withdrew their strike last evening after a meeting with Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Abul Kashem at his office.
“They agreed to cease the strike after we assured them of ensuring safety of their vehicles and staff,” Md Sahidullah, assistant commissioner (traffic) of CMP (north) told The Daily Star.
Bus services on city routes resumed around 6:30pm.
After a recent hike in petroleum prices, the government revised the bus fares in the port city from Tk 1.15 to Tk 1.20 per kilometre.
However, the minimum fare of Tk 5 for first three kilometres remained unchanged.
The new fares became effective on Friday.
Chittagong City Bus-Minibus, Human Hauler Owners’ Association, Chattala Transport Owners’ Association, Kalurghat Bus Owners’ Association, Chittagong Metropolitan Bus-Minibus Owners’ Association and Jaatri Sheba Malik Samity (Mosarraf) backed the strike, while Jaatri Sheba Malik Samity (Neepu) and Metro Special Service opposed.
-With The Daily Star input
