City commuters in dire straits

The ongoing drive against unfit vehicles and errant drivers has caused serious sufferings to the city's commuters, as many operators are not running their rundown buses to avert possible action by mobile courts.
Fearful of being fined or jailed by the mobile courts, a good number of transport owners have either kept their ramshackle vehicles off the roads or sent those to various workshops to have a paint-and-brush makeover before bringing those to the roads again, creating transportation shortage in the overpopulated capital.
The shortage of transports in most cases is so severe that many of the commuters, especially office-goers and students, have to wait for hours to get into a public transport in the morning. Whenever they see a bus, all rush to the vehicle to manage a space in it by hook or crook. Some run after the doors, while some try to enter the bus through the windows.
Talking to the FE on Sunday, Sajedul Karim, a government employee, said he reached at Banglamotor bus stoppage at about 8:30am. "Now it is 9:30am, but I'm still trying to get into a bus. The transports that are moving on the road are crammed with passengers. There is no space for more passengers."
He was very critical over the government's ongoing drive, saying that the authority should think of alternatives for the commuters' sake before taking such decision to ensure their smooth and hassle-free movement.
Admitting the shortage of transports in the city, Sohel Rana, a transport worker, said many bus owners have decided not to ply their vehicles on the roads to avert being fined. "Most of the buses in the capital are unfit. So, will it be a wise decision to take those away?"
Expressing dissatisfaction over the ongoing drive, ETC transport service's managing director Shahidul Islam alleged, "All of the buses seized by the courts have genuine fitness certificate. Even after that, cases are being filed against these vehicles."
"Private cars are not being checked. We will have no option but to stop our service, if the drive continues," he added.
Rejecting the allegation, executive magistrate of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Moshiur Rahman said they took action only against ramshackle vehicles and licence-less drivers.
"Some of the drivers show licences that are not renewed, and they deserve strict action."
The magistrate, however, termed thin presence of buses on the city streets amid the ongoing drive a 'success'.
DMP and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) jointly launched the drive from August 05 through two mobile courts, following an instruction of the High Court (HC). Since then the number of passenger buses plying the city streets has declined significantly.
 DMP Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said they have launched the drive following the HC instruction, and it will continue until further order in this regard.
"Yes, we know there is a shortage of public transports in the city. But we have nothing to do to this effect. We're just following the order," he added.   
Without mentioning any figure of the vehicles that have been dumped during the ongoing drive, the DMP official said a good number of vehicles have been dumped and fines imposed on them by the mobile courts.
Chairman of Nirapad Sarak Chai (NISCHA), an organisation working on road safety, Ilias Kanchan has welcomed the move. He, however, said the authorities concerned should take such a move in a planned way, not haphazardly.
"Otherwise, it will not bring anything but immense sufferings to the commuters," he added.
According to BRTA, over 0.31 million unfit vehicles of different types are plying across the country. Of them, over 93,000 are operating in Dhaka.
Besides, a total of 87,795 unfit motor vehicles are plying Dhaka roads, posing a threat to road safety and traffic congestion.
According to the vehicle registration authority, there are around 800,000 registered vehicles in the capital.
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