Anarchy over bus fare reigns roads and highways in north

OUR CORRESPONDENT
BOGURA, Apr 06: There are widespread allegations of anarchy over bus fare on the roads and highways in the northern region, including Bogura and Sirajganj districts, centring the Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the largest religious festivals of the Muslims.
A section of unscrupulous owners and workers of both local and distant route buses indulge in such disorder in fare realisation.
They are realising double or in some cases three times higher fare from the general and homebound passengers in the name of bus shortage compared to the current demand.
As a result, all the efforts of the government in context of preventing excessive fare collection from the passengers are going in vain, experts opined. On the other hand, homebound people are facing economic pressure ahead of Eid due to bearing additional expenditures.
According to the statistics of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, about 12 million people will leave the capital city Dhaka for enjoying Eid holiday outside with their near and dear ones.
Similarly almost same number of people will return to the capital from different places of the country after celebrating Eid. A majority of them will come from 16 districts of the northern region.
Amzad Hossain, a government job holder, who was waiting for a bus of SR Paribahan at Thanthaniya bus terminal in Bogura, said, "I have purchased a ticket of SR Paribahan with Tk16,00, which is double compared to the regular price."
Ariful Islam, a job holder of Sirajganj town, said, "I shall go to Dhaka with my family on April 8 to enjoy Eid festival. But, I have been forced to pay Tk 500 per ticket against the regular rate of Tk350. I had to pay additional Tk600 against four tickets."
There is an allegation that, those, who collect tickets from shohoz.com are being forced to pay additional money to collect bus tickets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
It is learnt from the source that, Alhamra Paribahan departed from Rangpur realizes Tk 2,000 for each ticket from the passenger against the usual rate of Tk 900.
Tk 3,000 is being realised as fare of Dhaka-bound AC coach of Hanif Enterprise from Panchaghar against the usual fare of Tk2,000.
Mosharraf Hossain, general manager of Hanif Enterprise, said, "We have increased the price of bus tickets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr as the fuel cost of our transport has increased compared to the previous period due to huge pressure of passengers and traffic congestion on the roads during the ongoing scorching heat."
Abu Raihan, general secretary of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association, said, "We are realising fare fixed by the government. Few bus owners and workers might have realised additional money as most of the times buses return to Dhaka empty after providing service in the district level. For want of passengers, the transport owners cannot recoup fuel costs. That is why they sometimes collect additional fare, which is known to the law enforcers."
A traffic inspector seeking anonymity said that around 2.5 million people leave Dhaka daily before Eid. Almost the same number of people will leave for the capital Dhaka from different areas after celebrating Eid. But surprisingly buses, trains and launches, which are known as the main public transports of the country, have the capacity to carry highest 1.5 million passengers a day. Due to this huge difference between the demand and supply, fare anarchy takes place on the roads and highways during each Eid.
With the start of the Eid holidays, holidaymakers have started leaving working places with the aim to reach home for enjoying Eid festival with their relatives.
Taking the advantage, some unscrupulous transport owners and workers realise double to triple fares trapping the passengers on the plea of transport shortage.
In the last Eid-ul-Fitr, it was observed that a huge number of holidaymakers crossed long route by motorbikes taking high risk to celebrate Eid with their families.
This time, the government has issued special instructions regarding the movement of motorcycles on the highways centering the Eid aiming to reduce accidents and traffic congestion. The terrible thing is that oldest and ordinary buses are realising double to triple charges compared to the regular fare just after setting an AC. During a spot visit to SI, Ovi, Zenin, Sirajganj Line and Seba Line counters in Sirajganj and Banani, Thanthania and Charmatha Bus Terminal in Bogura, this correspondent found that all the buses were charging almost double fare against the designated fares on various pretexts. In some cases, passengers are being carried on extra chairs set beside the driver.
In the same way, additional fare is also being taken in front of the traffic policemen who mostly play a role of spectator.
Khandaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association said, "We have deployed some people in the field to resist passenger harassment and additional fare collection. However, if we get any complaint in this regard, we will take drastic action against those responsible."
Transport sector sources said the government does not fix the fare of AC buses. Taking the advantage, transport owners and workers increase fare as per their will.
On the other hand, many companies do not sell advance tickets of buses. They realise additional charges from the passengers during the Eid as per their wish. This is why police have nothing to do in this regard.
A bridge and three overpasses at Panchiliya, Mulibari and Dadpur in Sirajganj district opened on Saturday morning to avert traffic gridlock in the northern region during the Eid holiday.
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