A longer wait
At least 600 buses leaving from Gabtoli terminal to the southwestern districts have not been able to use the Padma Bridge since its inception as their route permits have not been issued yet.
Buses will need route permits to transport passengers from Gabtoli through Padma Bridge. According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), no bus can cross Padma Bridge without a permit.
BRTA has already fixed 13 new routes for buses to pass through Padma Bridge, from Sayedabad terminal to the initial station. The buses will pass through Barishal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Jhalokati, Pirojpur, Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Gopalganj, Faridpur, Madaripur and Shariatpur districts.
As of yet, no bus operates through Padma Bridge from Sayedabad to Jashore, Meherpur, Kushtia, Chuadanga, Jhenaidah, Magura, Narail and Rajbari. Buses bound to these districts have to use Paturia ghat instead.
Currently, Sakura Paribahan operates the most buses on the route from Gabtoli to Barishal. Nazir Ahmed, manager of the company's Gabtoli counter, said their buses pass through Paturia. Although Padma bridge is now open for commuting, they did not receive any instructions to change the route.
"We don't have a route permit in that direction. For now, our buses will be operating through Paturia. I have heard that the company is trying to get a route permit from Sayedabad," said Nazir.
Shubho, counter master at Hanif Enterprise in Gabtali, said the buses leaving the Gabtoli terminal would continue to pass through Paturia. Buses will cross the Padma by ferry on Eid too as they have not yet received the route permit to commute through Padma Bridge.
Sources from Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association -- which oversees buses leaving from Gabtoli Inter-District Bus Terminal -- said about 1,200 buses operate from Gabtoli terminal. Of these, about 600 are buses currently running on various routes to the southwest., except the route via Padma Bridge.
Khandaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association, said they also wanted some of their vehicles from Gabtoli to pass through the Padma Bridge.
He said, "Our vehicles only have route permits to commute through Paturia ghat. We don't operate outside Dhaka, that's why we didn't run our vehicles through Padma Bridge."
Contacted, BRTA chairperson Nur Mohammad Mazumder said buses travelling through Padma Bridge will have to leave from Sayedabad, not Gabtoli.
"Buses leaving from Gabtoli will not be able to run through Padma Bridge as they are not allowed to leave their designated terminals. We are only allowing buses leaving from Sayedabad to run through Padma Bridge."
"No bus companies have applied for a new route permit till Monday," he added.
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