Chandpur Times Top Newspaper in Chandpur
Public transport will start on a limited basis on 17 May.If all goes well, public transport will be introduced in the country on a limited scale from May 17 in compliance with the health rules. However, it will be completely closed for four days during Eid. State Minister for Public Administration Mohammad Farhad Hossain said this while talking to media. However, bus, train and naval authorities do not know about this yet.
Minister Md. Farhad Hossain said, “Everything has to be started little by little in pursuit of livelihood.” However, it has to be hygienic. Asked how the public transport would run in compliance with the health rules, he said, “A 40-seat car will fill 20 seats.” In other words, people have to be seated leaving one seat empty. Wash your hands with sanitizer before getting in the car. You have to spray disinfectant. ‘
Public transport will start on a limited basis on 17 May.Regarding the operation of public transport from May 17, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said, “We have not yet received any instructions on the operation of trains from May 16. Passenger trains will run whenever the government wants. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury also said the same. He said the ship would start plying whenever instructions were given by the cabinet.
Thus the owner is not very interested in running the bus according to the rules. Asked what would happen in this situation, he said, life is as important as livelihood. And there is no substitute for combining the two.
Asked why government workers were asked to stay at the station during Eid, he said, “There is an emergency situation in the country at present. And government employees have more responsibility in case of emergency. Any responsibility can be read at any time. Government employees have not been allowed to leave the station to fulfill this responsibility.
Explaining the reason for the closure of public transport for four days on Eid, he said, “In our country, everyone wants to go home to the village during the Eid festival. As a result, on the bus, on the roof of the bus, on the train, on the roof of the train, on the boat, on the launch, everyone runs to the village house in any way they can. But this time the situation in Corona is not good, people are being told to stay at home. Yet people are not staying at home. At one stage, some of the institutions that are less crowded in pursuit of livelihood had to be opened. But if public transport is running during Eid, the crowd will be more. This can increase the risk of infection. Due to the risk of infection, public transport will be closed for four days during Eid.
Meanwhile, businessmen, general buyers and concerned people in the transport sector say that the decision should be taken to introduce public transport in compliance with the hygienic rules in a limited manner. They are also prepared for this.
They say that public transport can be run in a limited way by following the hygiene rules. In this situation, a notification issued by the cabinet department on Monday said that long-distance vehicles will be closed during Eid-ul-Fitr. Besides, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges said in a press release on the same day that public transport will be closed in line with the general holiday.
Until next May 16.
It has been said that a limited number of shops and shopping malls will be opened from May 10 in compliance with the health rules. After that, business leaders and shoppers say, even if the shops are opened on the condition of complying with limited hygiene rules, how will they travel? Therefore, public transport should be allowed to operate on a limited scale. I will not be able to talk about this issue if the President of Bangladesh Shop Owners Association Md. Helal Uddin does not go for a couple of days.
The government has announced a general holiday from March 26 across the country, including the capital. The holiday has been extended till May 16. The whole country is supposed to be in a state of ‘lockdown’ on public holidays. At first, there was a strict ‘house arrest’ situation with ‘everything closed’. However, the ‘blockade’ that lasted for more than a month has been broken for several days.
Especially day laborers, domestic workers and people dependent on daily work are taking to the streets. Readymade garment factories have been opened. However, due to the closure of long-distance buses, the garment workers are being forced to return to the work area in freight vehicles even though it is against the law. In the darkness of the night, a section of ordinary passengers are going from one district to another in freight vehicles. That is why the transport owners and workers are in favor of launching public transport in a limited manner and in compliance with the health rules.
Dhaka Bureau Chief, May 07,2020
