Owner-worker dispute halts inter-district bus services from Rajshahi
The Rajshahi District Motor Workers Union and the Road Transport Group went on to announce a blanket suspension of all inter-district bus services from Rajshahi.
Inter-district bus services from Rajshahi came to a standstill this morning (4 September) after an internal dispute between bus owners and workers in Rajshahi and neighbouring Natore spiralled into a district-wide shutdown.
Buses running through Natore towards Rangpur division, Dhaka and other destinations were among the routes affected.
The trouble traces back to yesterday (3 September), when a bus operated by Rabbi Paribahan left Rajshahi bound for Darshana. Owners and workers in Natore stopped the bus there. Passengers were made to get off and were later put on a Tuhin Paribahan bus to continue their journey.
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Nazrul Islam Helal, general secretary of the Rajshahi Road Transport Group, said he had heard that services were suspended from the morning. He confirmed that only buses running through Natore had been affected.
In response to the Natore incident, the Rajshahi Motor Workers Union and the Road Transport Group detained three Tuhin Paribahan buses in Rajshahi. Once the Rabbi Paribahan bus held in Natore was released, the three detained buses in Rajshahi were let go as well.
Even so, the standoff was not over. The Rajshahi District Motor Workers Union and the Road Transport Group went on to announce a blanket suspension of all inter-district bus services from Rajshahi.
The suspension left travellers stuck at Rajshahi's bus terminal with no way forward. The affected routes normally carry passengers not just to Natore but onward to several districts in Rangpur division as well as to Dhaka and other parts of the country, so the disruption was felt well beyond Rajshahi itself.
Abdul Majid, general secretary of the Natore District Transport Workers Union, offered a different account of how things escalated. He said the Rabbi Paribahan bus had entered Natore without permission, prompting local owners and workers to send it back to Rajshahi. Six or seven Natore buses were then detained in Rajshahi in what appeared to be a tit-for-tat response, and that is what shut down the Natore-Rajshahi route.
Transport leaders from both sides are expected to sit down and negotiate a resolution. Officials involved say they hope discussions will bring services back to normal soon, though no timeline has been given.
