Tejgaon road free of illegal parking

A day after an eviction drive ended in a clash between transport workers and police, the busy road in front of Tejgaon Truck Terminal was yesterday freed from illegal parking.

Around yesterday noon, no vehicles were seen parked on the road that links Karwan Bazar and Tejgaon Industrial Area.

Usually, trucks and lorries turn the wide road into a narrow alley by parking their large vehicles. The vehicles were parked inside the terminal yesterday, said transport workers.

However, this has happened before and has not been sustainable since the trucks and lorries resume parking on the road under the patronage of locals who have vested interest, sources said.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq claimed that the drive was a success and that it was a result of repeated meetings with owners and transport leaders.

He said he would not step back from his goal of creating a better liveable Dhaka.

“I have been elected mayor, brick chunks may be hurled at me,” he told a press briefing yesterday at a city hotel.

On Sunday, several hundred transport workers went berserk and fought pitched battles with police during a DNCC eviction against illegal structures inside the terminal. The drive was to create more space inside so that truckers would not have to park on the road.

The clash erupted when Annisul himself was leading the drive. In the face of the rowdy protest, the drive had to be abandoned and the mayor had to take cover at a nearby office of transport workers.

He remained virtually confined there for about three hours and was later escorted out of the office by law enforcers. At least three people suffered pellet injuries, as police opened fire on the agitating workers who responded by throwing brick chunks.

At yesterday's press briefing that was also attended by ward councillors and DNCC officials, Mayor Annisul said there was a rumour that city corporation officials went there to demolish the terminal. He said there were hundreds of illegal establishments inside the terminal but now the number was seven or eight.

The initiative was taken three months ago after discussions with owners and transport leaders, he said.

Yet a clash took place and for this he blamed a vested group who gained power by collecting illegal toll and peddling drugs.

Without mentioning any names, he said some such “leaders” approached him on Sunday and showed documents of a few shops on Railway properties.

“These leaders did the politics. They hurled the bricks,” he said, adding that the so-called leaders approached him since they thought the eviction drive might cut off their illegal source of income.

He said the workers got used on Sunday.

There was no reason for any altercation with the workers, the mayor said, explaining that if there was any reason for altercation, it was supposed to be with the owners, as the DNCC went to remove the parked vehicles from the road.

Annisul said despite presence of a significant number of law enforcers including police and Rab, he did not instruct them to clear the area as he wanted to talk to the workers.

“The criminals involved in the incident must be captured. We cannot accept it,” he said.

He further said the DNCC plans to make the terminal modern. They were looking for land outside the city.

Rustam Ali Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association, said they had several meetings over the last few months in which it was decided that the terminal would not be moved.

He urged to recover the railway land that had been occupied so that it could be used to accommodate parking space for vehicles.

Meanwhile, the DNCC authority alleged that during Sunday's incident 15 of their vehicles were vandalised and five staff were injured.