Buses occupy roads for lack of terminal

The busy road passing through Kadamtoli rail crossing area remain blocked by inter-district buses throughout the day. PHOTO: Zobaer Hossain Sikder

Chittagong is yet to develop any central terminal for buses of different inter-district routes.

Some 500 buses of 22 inter-district routes operate from a temporary bus station on a small land of Bangladesh Railway at Kadamtoli.

Without having any feeder or access road, the buses have a narrow road in front of the station to use it as entry and exit points.

Consequently, the buses keep the road blocked for almost the whole day.

As a result, traffic congestion has become a permanent feature at Kadamtoli rail crossing area that pushes the local people into an immeasurable suffering.

Thousands of people of nearby densely populated Madarbari, Pathantuli, Dhanialapara are virtually captivated due to the congestion, Imran Hossain, a resident of Dhanialapara, said.

"As most of the people of the area belong to lower-middle class and usually use rickshaw as a mode of transports and Sheikh Mujib Road declared rickshaw-free one, all the rickshaws bound for Agrabad use the road as a diversion, Imran said. So, the road always remain over-crowded with rickshaws and haphazardly parking of buses causing traffic jam," he said.

School and college-bound students as well as the office-bound people get stuck in the long congestion for hours in the morning, local people said.

The bus station could be shifted to a suitable place at Halishahar with feeder and access roads that would benefit the local people as well as passengers, they said.

Several initiatives including a recent one to shift the bus station to Olonkar area went in vain, they added.

Apart from the indifference of the authorities concerned, those who collect tolls from the buses and smuggling syndicates that grew centering the bus station and adjoining railway station might be blamed for this, they said.

They said each bus of this station has to pay over Tk 100 daily to different groups though the Inter-district Transport Owners' Association and Kadamtoli Bus Terminal Owners' Association. Two associations get Tk 35 and Tk 30 respectively.

Inter-district Transport Owners' Association President Kafiluddin told The Daily Star that they had been fighting for long for a central bus terminal for inter-district buses at a suitable place with sufficient space, access roads and feeder roads from different corners, but in vain.

"It is a matter of regret that in Chittagong, the second city of the country, we have neither any central terminal nor permanent station for some 500 inter-district buses, he said. Only on Chittagong-Dhaka route, over 40,000 passengers travel daily, Kafiluddin said.

It forces us to park buses on the main thoroughfares of the city in front of our counters and garages, he said.

"Thus we are blamed for traffic jams and suffering of the people. But it is not possible for the private bus owners to set up a central terminal by themselves unless the government comes forward," Kafiluddin said.

"We are raising fund for maintenance and development of the temporary stations. We have also a plan to set up a terminal at a suitable place if we get land from the government on lease," he said.

Over 100 buses of Dhaka-Chittagong route operate from three illegally occupied spots at Cinema Palace area, BRTC bus terminal adjoining Station Road area and Dampara Garibullah Shah (R) Mazar crossing area.

Meanwhile, the buses of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and north Chittagong district routes have a "bus terminal" set up in most unplanned and inconsiderate way on footpath of Muradpur Road. The buses are parked occupying the road round the clock.

There is only one bus terminal in Chittagong at Bahodderhut on CDA land on lease for buses of 17 routes of south Chittagong district, Bandarban and Cox's Bazar.

But with Chittagong City Corporation responsible for taking care of the roads and lighting and Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) for the terminal, it lacks in proper maintenance and remains in a most chaotic and miserable state.

A portion of the terminal remains in dark providing a haven for muggers and anti-social elements while the special city service buses are parked just in front of the terminal blocking the entry and exit of inter-district buses, Arakan Sarak Sramik Union General Secretary Monsoor Ahmed said.

On the other hand, special city service buses, human haulers and tempoos do not have any permanent station here and they turn the main city streets into their temporary stands or halts.