The road and transport sector in the country has suffered a loss of over Tk 12,374 crore since October 28 the opposition parties have been observing rounds of nationwide hartal and blockade programmes, demanding resignation of the government and elections under a non-partisan neutral administration.
Transport owners have claimed that they incurred a loss of Tk 38.50 crore as 153 vehicles, including buses and goods carriers, were torched and 255 others were vandalised across the country.
The owners also counted a loss of Tk 12,335.50 crore due to disruption in services of around five lakh buses and goods carriers.
According to Fire Service and Civil Defence, some 205 vehicles and establishments were set on fire during the period between October 28 and November 23.
Since the opposition parties started staging protests, the owners are operating a less number of vehicles in the capital city and outside Dhaka. The number of city buses, however, increased a bit but still long-haul and inter-district buses are almost absent on the highways during the current political turmoil.
In the latest developments, BNP has declared a fresh 48-hour nationwide blockade for Sunday and Monday, which is the seventh round since October 31.
In broad daylight, unidentified people set fire to a bus of ‘Ajmeri Paribahan’ at Bijoynagar in Dhaka on Thursday. The bus came under arson attack at Nightingale intersection of the area around 12:50 pm.
Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association leaders said that they have asked the owners to operate vehicles as the sector continues bleeding and transport workers pass days idly. However, most of the owners are not taking their vehicles out of the garage. They are in further trouble as incidents of arson attack and vandalism are even taking place during night when vehicles are parked.
Recently, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at a programme with transport leaders announced that the government would provide necessary protection and compensation for damaged vehicles.
He also urged them to repeat the role they had played during previous blockades of BNP-Jaamat in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to maintain the supply chain and keep people’s mobility normal by operating vehicles.
“We will provide compensations for the damages to the buses caused by arson attacks like we did in 2014-15,” he said.
Talking to The Business Post, transport owners association secretary general Khandakar Enayetullah said that owners of long-haul buses and goods carriers are not operating their vehicles like other normal days as the number of passengers is low.
“In Dhaka city, owners are running buses and the number is increasing day by day as people are getting back to normal mobility. Passengers are few for the long haul buses,” he said.
However, his claim does not match with the local transportation scenario in the capital. The number of public transport was low on Thursday as well. On the other hand, transport workers said that they cannot operate long-haul buses fearing arson attacks.
The police headquarters’ data showed that 247 vehicles were torched across the country during the period between October 28 and November 21.
