Commuters suffer

Thousands of passengers are suffering due to a sudden bus strike called jointly by the Bus Mini-Bus Sramik Union of Barisal and Jhalakathi.

The indefinite strike started from yesterday, protesting against Chairman of Pirojpur Sadar Upazala Parishad Md Mojibur Rahaman Khalek, who tortured a bus driver on September 24, said, President of Bus Sramik Union in Jhalakathi Md Mojibur Rahman.

Road communication between Barisal and Jhalakathi, Pirojpur, Khulna, Bagerhat and Barguna has been disrupted due to the strike.

Driver Nanna, a member of Jhalakathi Bus Sramik Union, was taken to Pirojpur Sadar Hospital and then shifted to Jhalakathi Sadar Hospital for his safety, Mojibur added.

"We gave the authorities two days to settle the issue, but none pay any heed to it, so we were forced to call the indefinite strike for our rights," he said.

The sudden strike brought untold sufferings for the commuters as they did not find any transport.

"I wanted to go to Barisal to visit a doctor, but there is no transport," said Dulal, who was waiting with his sister for a bus at Bagri bazar of Rajapur. 

"I had to pay five times more fare than usual for going to my college in Rajapur," said Kartik Chandra Das, a lecturer of Rajapur Degree College in Jhalakathi.  

Like Kartik, some passengers hired auto-rickshaws at higher fare for going to their destinations.

"All kinds of communications will be suspended if we do not get justice for the torture on our colleague," the workers threatened. 

No steps had been taken to solve the problem till filing of this the report at around 5:00 pm yesterday.

"We are trying sincerely to solve the problem as soon as possible," said Subhas Chandra Saha, superintendent of police in Jhalakathi.