On day two of the ongoing bus strike on 18 routes of Khulna on Saturday, common passengers from Satkhira faced immense trouble while local BNP activists reached the rally venue in Khulna through alternative means.
From Saturday morning, passengers found three wheelers locally known as easy bike and Mahendra parked at Khulna Road intersection of Satkhira town where usually Khulna-bound buses were kept.
Locals expressed frustration for the sufferings they have been facing to travel on long routes on three wheelers in broken trips.
Jashim Uddin, a resident of Nagarghata village, said his mother Amirunnessa was admitted to Khulna Medical College and Hospital and she will undergo a surgery on Saturday. “I could not reach Khulna on time as buses were not available,” he said.
The long-route passengers had to travel through these three wheelers finding no other alternatives.
Shahjahan Ali from Palashpol village said he had to travel on these three wheelers as there are five member in his family to attend a family programme in Khulna.
However, bus operations remained normal on Kaliganj-Shyamnagar, Ashashuni-Jashore roads from Satkhira.
Satkhira District BNP convener Syed Iftekhar Ali said that the activists could not be obstructed from joining the rally today.
“We predicted this may happen and all the activists managed to reach Khulna on time for rally by motor cycles, boats, trawlers and other means,” he said.
The aggrieved passengers said bus and launch movement were suspended to obstruct BNP rally but the opposition leaders have reached the venue anyway while common peoples had to bear the burnt.
The bus strike however came as a boon for the three wheeler drivers in Satkhira as they got a lot of passengers but they claimed they didn’t raise any fare considering the plight of people.
Source: United News of Bangladesh