All-out transport strike cuts off Barishal ahead of BNP rally, commuters suffer
Along with transport and three-wheelers, owners of speedboats, rental cars, and launches had announced a strike ahead of the BNP's divisional rally for Saturday – practically severing all communication with Barishal
Barishal commuters have been suffering as all kinds of vehicles, including water transports, have halted operations since Friday (4 November) morning - ahead of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) divisional rally in Barishal on Saturday (5 November).
Along with transport and three-wheelers, owners of speedboats, rental cars, and launches had announced a strike ahead of the BNP's divisional rally for Saturday – practically severing all communication with the district.
Many people were seen waiting at the launch terminals and bus terminals without being able to reach their destination.
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Only a few rickshaws have been seen plying on the roads in the city since Friday morning. Some commuters were seen at the Rupatoli bus stand in Barishal while some passengers were seen boarding rickshaws. Most shops were also seen closed in the city.
Buses have been parked in rows in the terminal and surrounding roads. Ticket counters are closed.
Passengers coming to the terminals either had to return back or wait for alternative vehicles. Many were seen opting for battery-powered vans, rickshaws, and motorcycles as alternative means of transport amid the strike.
However, due to the shortage of these vehicles, most of the passengers had to go back.
Additional police personnel have been deployed in Barishal city to ensure law and order.
Barishal Metropolitan Police teams are checking the vehicles at all the entry points of Barishal city to avoid any untoward incident centring the BNP rally.
Waterways handicapped
All launch services from Barisal have been stopped since Friday morning without any official statement from the launch owners association in this regard.
"Launch services have been stopped on the Bhola-Barishal route since Thursday morning in protest against the attack on a launch named Awlad in Bhola. All domestic launch routes have been closed from Friday morning. As a result, no launch left Barisal river port with passengers and no launch came to Barishal," Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Barishal Naval Safety and Traffic Management Department Inspector Kabir Hossain told media.
He also said that neither the owners nor the workers' association officially said anything about stopping the launch services.
"The local launch services have been stopped in protest to the attack on the launch of MV Awolad when it was in Bhola yesterday [Wednesday]," said Abdul Jalil, a launch staffer at the Barishal launch ghat.
Speedboats are plying from Barishal to Bhola even though services in all other routes are closed. However, the number of speedboats still plying on the route is quite limited.
Many passengers complained that because of the launch service suspension, the speedboats are charging extra.
Tarek Shah, line in charge of the speedboat ghat in Barishal, told The Business Standard (TBS) that speedboat services will remain suspended until Saturday. However, he could not specify the reasons behind the strike.
"We called the strike to protest the movement of three-wheelers on highways as they account for a good number of accidents," said Kawser Hossain Shipon, secretary general of the Barishal Bus Owners Association.
Initiation of road strikes
Barishal District Bus Owners Group late last month called a two-day strike on 4-5 November demanding local passenger vehicles and other three-wheelers be kept off the highway, while speedboat operators on the Barishal-Bhola route went on strike for three days – from 3 November to 5 November –without showing any reason.
The Private Car and Microbus Samity of Barishal City stopped their services with a sudden decision on Thursday afternoon and so does the Launch Owners Association. Even, three-wheeler owners announced a two-day strike saying that they might be abused on roads amid massive strikes.
"We won't operate private cars and microbuses for the next two days. It's all about our issues." Syeed Nuruzzaman, vice president of the Rented Car Association in Barishal, told TBS.
BNP leaders and activists have started arriving in Barishal two days early to join the rally since Thursday morning despite the two-day-long transport strike.
The BNP men gathered at the venue of the rally, Barishal city's Bangabandhu Park, and spent the night in the fields under sheds and making tents with awnings.
A good number of leaders and activists have been arriving since morning. Most of them are coming on trawlers.
The leaders have arranged food for their supporters at the venue, said BNP leader Hafeez Ibrahim of Bhola.
The BNP supporters will continue arriving till the end of the rally, he added.
BNP's Barishal divisional rally has been called to protest against the hike in fuel and essential commodities and to press home the party's other demands including restoration of the constitutional provision of holding the general elections under a neutral caretaker government.
Similar strikes were enforced ahead of the BNP's recent Mymensingh, Khulna, and Rangpur mass gatherings also.
