Illegal parking makes Mohammadpur a bus terminal

Bus drivers stop anywhere along Asad Avenue in Mohamadpur to pick and drop passengers. PHOTO: STAR

The roads in Mohammadpur residential area turn into a bus terminal at night as more than a hundred buses are parked every day on the roads to stay overnight.

Besides, some 60-70 buses are parked for whole-night stay in and around the buildings of Asad Gate New Colony of the National Housing Authority.

ATCL, a bus operator, has been using the open space in the colony for parking their vehicles for the last three years, locals alleged.

Other bus operators including SinoDipon, City Bus, Mega City and Rajdhani Express use Tajmahal Road and nearby roads to park their vehicles at night.

"After dusk, the bus drivers, conductors and helpers gossip here and their foul-mouth jibes until late at night make this place a hell," said a local resident.

The bus staffs sleep inside the buses for security of the vehicles. But local people say their presence damages the environment of the residential area.

Asked, the bus operators admit that they do not have permission to use the road as a nighttime bus terminal but they have no alternative place for parking.

"We asked Dhaka City Corporation and communications ministry several times to provide us with a city bus terminal, but they have not taken any step," said Awlad Hossain Raja, managing director of City Bus service.

"I know it is illegal. But we have no other choice," he said. Around 45 buses of the company remain on the Asad Avenue at night.

The National Housing Authority (NHA) had complained to Mohammadpur police on several occasions about the illegal parking of buses on the roads and in the colony.

The police sometimes conduct drive against the illegal parking but the buses disappear before arrival of the cops. They come again soon after the drive, said Kabir Ahmed Bhuiyan, executive engineer of NHA.

"Without effective action by the police, it is very difficult to free the roads and the Asad Gate New Colony from the illegally parked vehicles," he said.

When asked about the illegal parking of ATCL buses in the new colony, its one of the owners Bachchu Mia denied the allegation.

About 150 buses and 225 minibuses of 34 companies ply on various routes from Mohammadpur. Most of these buses are parked on roads illegally.

According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, some 4,000 buses and minibuses ply the city roads but the traffic department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Dhaka Transport Coordination Board say the number is around 5,800.

Apart from buses and minibuses, about 1,700 taxicabs and human hauliers cater to the transport needs of the city dwellers.