Rajshahi transport sector in serious setback over prolonged blockades

Our Correspondent | Published: February 20, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

RAJSHAHI, Feb 19: A chaotic and disorderly situation has been prevailing in transport sector in Rajshahi since the starting of non-stop blockade and hartal programmes by 20-party alliance.
Due to absence of work, thousands of transport workers in the district were nearly starving or spending their days in utter hardship. At the same time, owners of the transports were also incurring a huge loss with a heavy amount of interest of bank loan.
It is learnt, so far the transport sector in Rajshahi have incurred a loss of an estimated Tk 1000 million during the opposition's blockade. Moreover, the sector incurred Tk 300 million loss as a result of damage and torching of vehicles through arsoning and ransacking. Nearly 20 lakh people involved with transport sector in Rajshahi region have turned unemployed due to blockade.
Due to uninterrupted blockade programme started from January 6, those transport workers have become utterly helpless.
Watching at the hungry faces of the family, some transport labourers were daring to ply vehicles through roads even risking their lives. Due to damaging and arsoning of more than 30 vehicles in the district, owners of those vehicles were also spending a huge sum of money in reparing those and they were also bearing cost of treatment of the workers burnt or injured during the blockade. As a result, many owners of vehicles were not in favour of plying vehicle through roads until withdrawal of the opposition programme.
Monjur Rahman Peter, General Secretary of Rajshahi Paribahan Shramik Group informed, labourers do not want hartal or blockade. He further informed, due to hartal and blockade, nearly 20-lakh transport laboueres of Rajshahi region have turned jobless. They were now starving with their families. The owners were counting loss and were repaying a huge amount of bank interest. He mentioned, the transport owners have so far incurred Tk 1000 million loss during the programme.
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