Abdul Momen, Deputy Commissioner of Gulshan Traffic Division of the capital Dhaka, posted on social media (Facebook), asking for advice on traffic problems. One of the suggestions that came after that Facebook post was to move interdistrict buses parked on both sides of the main road outside the Mohakhali bus terminal. After five months passed, the problem has not been resolved yet. Two types of images were seen. Buses were parked across both lanes of the road at night and morning. And in the afternoon it decreases to one row. Most of the buses kept there are long-distance buses. As the road becomes a place for car parking, there is a long period of traffic jams from midnight to morning. It takes more than 30 minutes to cross the 2-minute road from Nabisco to Mohakhali at night. Ena Paribahan, owned by Khandkar Enayet Uliah, Secretary General of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, has the most number of buses on the roads of Mohakhali.
The road is occupied by buses of various companies including Ekta Paribahan, Imam Paribahan, Shoukhin Express, Kazi Paribahan, Alam Asia, and Araf Paribahan. According to the owner association information, about 1 thousand 200 buses operate from the Mohakhali bus terminal on 20 routes in the country. The bus terminal can accommodate 300 buses only. Therefore, due to a lack of capacity, buses are being kept in front of the terminal on Shaheed Tajuddin Road and the surrounding streets.
When we spoke to some labor leaders, drivers, and assistants of Mohakhali Terminal, they said that they have no other option but to park their buses on the road. If you return to Dhaka by bus at night, there is no space available at the terminal. They have to pay a fee to park the bus outside the terminal. However, a leader of the owner's association denied the issue of subscription and said these stories have been spread. No one can collect bus fare from the front of the terminal. No one has such courage. Be it law enforcement or anyone else. Accepting the problem, they also do not want the car to be outside. But they are not being given extra space by the city corporation. They have not taken any action in this regard despite repeated requests. Abdul Malek, General Secretary of the Mohakhali Bus Terminal Owners` Association said considering the situation, a request was being made for the expansion of the terminal, but it was not given. Some government spaces are vacant and available behind the terminal on the eastern side. Even if it was given, there was no need to keep the bus on the road. Apart from this, there is a WASA place behind the terminal. Even if box culverts are fixed there, buses can be kept there.
Pointing out that the owner association spends Tk 5 lakh every month to keep the bus; he said that if the car is kept on the road, the driver has to stay with the car. Moreover, 30 to 40 workers look after these street cars every night, for which we have to pay Tk 12000 to 15,000 per month. However, city corporation transport sources said they are working to solve this problem. Recently two acres of land have been taken behind the terminal and the process of calling for tenders is going on. Work will start in March. An official of the City Corporation did not wish to be named, said the owner association should not be blamed. The land they need for the terminal is not owned by the government. Despite this, the work of expanding the space is going on from the city corporation. Mir Khairul Alam, Chief Executive Officer of DNCC said he did not know the details as he had just joined.
ARS
