I had to stay over at my uncle's house in Uttara on October 27. My office is in Motijheel. So I had decided to get to work by any mode of transport on October 28. Like thousands of other commuters, I had totally forgotten about the 48-hour nationwide transport strike that started the next day.
On Sunday morning, at first I tried to look for a bus. Except for Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) buses, no other buses were plying on the roads. Even the private bus services were off the roads. The road from Tongi towards Dhaka was still gridlocked with thousands of private cars.
This forced hundreds of female and senior commuters to stand by the roads desperately. Some male commuters were also waiting. As soon as some BRTC bus pulled over, they charged at it and tried to board it. All the BRTC buses were filled with passengers.
I also saw two to three patients who were stuck in CNG-run three-wheelers and standing by the roadside with their family members.
I decided to go to Airport Station. My plan was to board a train from the station and reach Kamalapur station.
I was stuck for more than an hour on the road while trying to get to Airport station from Uttara Sector 6. Once there, I could not even stand inside the station properly due to the crowd. Everyone else had the same experience as me!
A train came by. But it was already full with passengers who were not allowing those on the platform to get into it. There were heated arguments between people who wanted to get into the train and those in it.
Finally, the whistle was blown. Some managed to get in. Few extremely courageous commuters hastily climbed up on the train's roof.
I called my supervisor in the office, notified him about the situation and told him that I cannot come to office due to the strike.
My supervisor is very understanding. But I am wondering about the difficulties that most commuters faced while trying to explain to their seniors, who are possibly not as understanding, the reasons for their delay or absence in office on the day.
Also, those who managed to go to work must have faced tremendous difficulties on their way back in the evening.
I would like to request the transport workers' association and concerned authorities to negotiate on the eight demands of the transport workers and come to an agreement so that this strike can be called off.
Akibul Javed,
Indira Road, Dhaka
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