Only 25pc buses run on N routes despite escort offer

FE Report
The government's strong escort promise proved not enough to convince the bus owners to run their vehicles on a large scale on the northern routes of the country.
According to transport owners, following the escort facility promised the number of buses and passengers on the routes connecting the northern districts increased slightly but as per daily frequency it was still less than 25 per cent.
Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association (BBTOA) president Sohel Talukdar said due to the escort offer the number of buses increased on several northern district routes.
He said: "We are telling the passengers that the government is providing the police escort facility for some routes and they should not be afraid of any arson attack."
Ramesh Chandra Talukder, BBTOA senior vice president, said due to the escort the number of buses leaving the Gabtoli and Mahakhali terminals in the city increased by 5 per cent and currently more than 25 per cent buses were leaving Dhaka every day.
He said the buses were moving under police and BGB patrol in different phases.
A driver of a Dinajpur-bound bus said his owner had stopped services for several days. But he had resumed the service again on Friday with the police escort against arson attacks available.
He said the number of passengers was increasing from Thursday.
Abdus Sabur, a Mymensingh-bound passenger was waiting at the Ena Paribahan in the city. He told the FE that he was risking his life for going to Haluaghat for an urgent piece of business.
He said he was told by the terminal people that police would escort the vehicles up to Mymesingh. So, he could rest assured, he added. For the journey from Mymensingh onward he would do it on his own.
As per BBTOA vice president's estimation, out of 5,000 regular inter-district buses currently at least 1200 buses are leaving the Mahakhali and Gabtoli terminals every day and the number might be higher at the Syedabad terminal.
He said the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway was safer than any other inter-district route.
In the meeting on police escort for buses held recently the owners sought the security measure for six northern routes from Mahakhali.
The routes are Dhaka to Pabna-Ishwardi-Veramara, Dhaka to Kushtia-Benapole, Dhaka to Rajshahi, Dhaka to Bogra-Naogaon, Dhaka to Dinajpur-Birampur and Dhaka to Rangpur-Nilphamari.
Another passenger coming from Bogra to the Mahakhali bus stand said he saw extra security personnel on the way from Gazipur and before that there were regular highway police.
BBTOA vice president Ramesh said as there were police stations at the end of every short distance, the government was seeking their help for deploying extra guards and police.
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