RAJSHAHI, Sept 08: Due to illegal bus stands in the city, movement of vehicles as well as people is being hampered badly creating traffic jam frequently.
Sources said, to ease traffic movement and to render improved service to the passengers, a new bus terminal on the outskirts of the city was constructed at Naodapara on 7.41 acres of land in June 2004.
The terminal has a capacity of holding 500 buses at a time. The Rajshahi Development Authority (RDA) handed over the bus terminal to the transport owners of the city on June 2011.
The aim of construction of the new bus terminal was to relocate the old bus terminal of Seroil to Naodapara. But even after 15 years of completion, this new terminal at Naodapara is yet to operate fully.
The terminal is only being used as a garage, the sources added.
Residents of Naodapara area informed, buses are kept at Naodapara terminal but no passenger boards buses from there. After departing from Naodapara terminal, the buses stand on the road at the Gole Chattar at Bhadra and passengers are embark or disembark from there.
Tickets counters for passengers for various destinations have also been set up there. People living at Bhadra and surrounding Padma Residential area are annoyed with the continuous harsh sound of hydraulic horns of the buses.
The movement of other vehicles and passerby throughout the road connecting the bus stand were also facing immense hurdles due to setting up of such temporary bus stand just on the road.
Not only such temporary bus stand has been set up at Bhadra but also such bus stands have been set up at the points of Talaimari crossing, Bindu crossing, greater road rail building and Bahrampur city by-pass crossing.
Those bus stands in every busy crossings of the city were creating regular traffic jams and sufferings of passengers as well as passerby knew no bounds for such illegal bus stands. Frequent accidents also occur due to these illegal bus stands.
Just in front of the main gate of Railway building, buses for Rajshahi-Naogaon, Rajshahi-Tanore, Rajshahi-Bagmara and CNG run auto-rickshaws and three-wheeler are kept stand to board passengers. The road jams in this area is a regular phenomenon.
Moreover, terminal for Dhaka and inter-district buses has been set up on the road in front of Rajshahi railway station.
Due to buses standing on the road, there is always traffic jam in front of Rajshahi railway station and in Seroil area.
Youth Action for Social Change (YASC), a socio-cultural organisation in Rajshahi, recently submitted memorandum to Mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Hamidul Haque demanding immediate removal of illegal bus stands from on the road at various points and to shift immediately the Seroil bus terminal and Dhaka bus stand to Naodapara.
The memorandum was signed by Samiul Alam Shaon and Nazmul Islam Akash, president and general secretary of the organisation.
In the memorandum, it was further mentioned, the buses are kept haphazardly on the roads near railway station and Bhadra road and even those buses are repaired and cleaned there.
Due to illegal parking of the buses on roads and loading and unloading passengers from here and there, the roads at those spots are also being damaged.
The footpaths of both sides of the road are also occupied by the bus owners and workers resulting regular traffic jam.
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