Temporary relocation becomes prolonged nightmare
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To the passengers bound for 19 routes of South Chittagong, including Bandarban and Cox's Bazar, the temporary bus terminal at Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge area in the city remains a nightmare for having no necessary facilities for them.
The terminal was shifted from its permanent station in Bahaddarhat to this location in 2012 as the connecting road between Bahaddarhat Bus Terminal and Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway had become dilapidated due to the ongoing construction work of Bahaddarhat flyover.
Transport leaders said at that time without building proper infrastructure for a bus terminal, the authorities instructed them to shift their station to this place temporarily compelling passengers and transport workers to go through untold sufferings for over three years.
However, the terminal has not been relocated to its earlier station though Bahaddarhat Flyover opened on October 12, 2013 and over 1,000 buses, including some counter service buses, still have to use the terminal as their station.
According to Passengers' Welfare Association and Transport associations, over one lakh passengers commute everyday through these routes.
Since there is no passenger shed, except a few small ticket counters, passengers need to remain standing for long for their bus to arrive.
Sometimes passengers are seen darting here and there to find their buses among parked vehicles haphazardly.
The situation worsens during rain as many of the passengers get drenched failing to find any shed and the place becomes difficult to walk on as it gets muddy and waterlogged.
Debdulal Chowdhury who went to the terminal to go to his village home in Patiya, got drenched as heavy shower started soon after he had reached there despite having an umbrella.
“I was desperately looking for a shed but could not find any,” he told The Daily Star, annoyingly adding, the authorities could not make a waiting shed for passengers in these three years.
Children, elderly and disabled passengers are the worst sufferers here, he added.
Rehana Akter, an NGO official of Chandanaish upazila, said she had to face a lot of trouble everyday as she had to hop on buses at this terminal to reach her workplace.
“Sometimes I have to stand for hours on the road under the scorching sun while waiting for a bus and sometimes I get drenched in sudden rainfall,” she said.
“Most distressing matter is, there is no toilet here for passengers,” she added.
Apart from that the place has become a constant source of traffic jam in the area since the local buses stay on the road for hours to board passengers, some locals alleged.
Traffic Inspector of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Selim-ur-Rahman admitted that it was not a proper place for bus terminal.
“They try heart and soul to keep the place free from traffic jam but most of the times we cannot do so for the buses”, he added.
Abdus Sattar Rony, general secretary of South Chittagong Passengers' Welfare Association, said Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) was supposed to build a permanent bus terminal for South Chittagong routes which they could not do in more than three years.
They demanded the authorities build a shed for waiting passengers several times but in vain, he added.
Demanding a permanent bus terminal, Abul Kalam Azad, secretary general of Chattagram Jela Sarak Paribahan Malik Group, said the temporary terminal is a source of misery not only for the passengers but also for the transport workers.
Traffic police often fine the drivers of the local buses as they cannot but wait on roads to board passengers which create traffic congestion, he added.
Contacted, Abdus Salam, CDA chairman, said since Bahaddarhat Bus Terminal was located in a vital area of the city, the terminal was not shifted again there to keep the city free from traffic jam.
They have a plan for building a permanent bus terminal for South Chittagong routes outside the city for which they submitted, he said.
Regarding the shed for waiting and other facilities, the CDA chairman said they told the transport leaders to build makeshift sheds for passengers.
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