CHATTOGRAM, Aug 06: The latest fuel oil price hike spelt untold miseries for the port city commuters, especially workplace-bound ones and school going students on Saturday.
Their sufferings were mainly caused by an indefinite transport strike called by the Chattogram Metropolitan Transport Owners Group from early morning Saturday in protest against the fuel price hike.
However, the strike was withdrawn in the afternoon following a negotiation by the group with representatives of the local administration and other stakeholders.
The government increased diesel price by 42 per cent and petrol and octane prices by about 50pc with effect from one minute past Friday midnight.
The transport owners' group had called the strike in Chattogram from 6:00am on Saturday demanding an adjustment of fares of buses and other modes of fuel-run transports with the enhanced rates of fuel oils.
During the strike, diesel-driven buses stayed off the city streets from early morning until late in the afternoon triggering a severe transport crisis in and around the city.
Though a few CNG-run minibuses plied the city roads in the morning they were very inadequate to accommodate a large number of commuters who were going to different private offices, educational institutions, factories and markets.
Taking advantage of the situation, the ridesharing motorcycles, rickshaws and CNG run auto-rickshaw increased their fares. Drivers of those vehicles charged a fat amount of fare from passengers who needed to reach their destinations in right time and were in desperate need to do so. Only people with high income could afford to hire those vehicles but commuters from low-income segments of the society were unable to pay the extra-fares charged by the drivers of those vehicles.
Unable to pay the extra-fare hundreds of people from the low-income groups went to their workplace on foot. Many commuters engaged themselves in severe arguments and on many occasions hot exchange with the rickshaw-pullers and CNG auto-rickshaw drivers over their demand for hefty fares.
Many commuters, waiting for transports at different city intersections, expressed angry reactions over the sudden fuel price hike.
President of Chattogram Metropolitan Transport Owners Group Belayet Hossain Belal said that the price of fuel has been increased without adjusting the fare.
"We will have to incur losses if run the vehicles with the previous fare, so, we stopped public transport from 6:00am until late in the afternoon today," he added.
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