Sufferings mount in Barisal

When Syed Rafiqul Islam arrived at the Rupatoli Bus Stand in Barisal with his wife and children to catch a bus for Pirojpur, he did not know what was in store for him.

He was startled to know about the suspension of all buses from Rupatoli Bus Stand and that his bus will arrive at Raiapur bus stop, which is seven kilometers away from Rupatoli.

“… Now I have to go on board an auto-rickshaw to catch a bus from Raiapur, which is troublesome and risky,” he told The Daily Star.

Along with him, hundreds of other passengers of south-western areas have been suffering as all bus services from Ruaptoli Bus Stand have remained suspended since Monday.

Passengers of six routes of Barisal with Pirojpur, Bhandaria, Pathorghata, Jhalakathi, Amua, and Khulna are suffering the most.

The transport halt started following an internal clash between Barisal and Jhalakathi bus owners' associations, according to information by them.

However, Jhalakathi bus owners' body arranged a temporary bus stand at Raiapur, seven kilometers away from Rupatoli, to relieve commuters from the sufferings.

Now passengers are forced to pay high fares to auto rickshaw for crossing the seven kilometer between Rupatoli and Raipur. The commute is time consuming and risky too.

“We have to spend double fares for going to Jhalakathi.” said Nurjahan Aktar, a school teacher.  “We have been forced to cut off all ties with Barisal Bus owners association at Ruapatoli Bus Stand as they always deprive us of our rights, the president of Jhalakathi Bus Owners' Association said.

“We have to pays extra toll to Barisal Association for using Rupatoli bus stand” he added. “We have tried to settle the issue but they don't response our demands.” Md. Bahadur, the secretary of Jhalakathi Bus Sramik Union said.

Previously, both the associations locked in many clashes at different times.

Denying all allegations the secretary of Barisal Bus Owners Association Kawser Hossain said “It is a whimsical decision of Jhalakathi Bus owners' association.”  

Smaller vehicles are plying the highway defying the ban and the commissioner of Barisal division has called a meeting yesterday afternoon to settle the issue, said Uttom Kumar Roy deputy commissioner (traffic) of Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP).