Activities at Chittagong Port and 19 private inland container depots (ICDs) started returning to normalcy yesterday following the postponement of the countrywide strike enforced by the goods-carrying transport owners and workers.

The government’s move to hike the bus fares appears to have spawned a free-for-all: many operators were charging as much as 50 percent higher fares, while the CNG-run buses were also collecting fares at the new rate that does not apply to them.

The Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh yesterday demanded that the government make life easier for the people by revoking the hike in the prices of diesel and kerosene.

Though the strike involving public transport was withdrawn on Sunday evening, the owners and workers of vehicles engaged in transporting goods continued to enforce their countrywide protest as of yesterday evening, taking a toll on export, import and trade.

Leaders of the goods-carrying vehicles owners-workers association have agreed to postpone their ongoing strike following a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at the secretariat tonight.

The railway work on the Padma Bridge will not start until the authorities concerned give a go-ahead, Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan said today.

Ferry services on Shimulia-Banglabazar route on the Padma river resumed today after a month of suspension.

Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity today alleged that the government has increased bus and launch fares to give the transport owners a chance to make hefty profits.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) today introduced its first automatic washing plant for locomotives.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan will hold a meeting this evening with leaders of goods-carrying vehicle owners' and workers' associations, who have been enforcing a strike since last Friday.

Rashida Aktar, a postgraduate student, suffered a lot on the road when she went to Eden Mohila College in the capital for an exam yesterday morning.

The bus and launch fares are now up by as much as 28 percent and 43 percent respectively, in the first manifestation of the impact the Tk 15 hike in diesel and kerosene prices will have on the cost of living for the poor and the middle-class.

Over 20,000 residents of Betuan village of Dilpashra union under Pabna’s Vangura upazila have to undergo perennial suffering due to the lack of a paved road in the village.

A government committee, led by Delwar Hossain, member of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), has fixed 35 percent hike in launch fare for a distance of less than 100 km, and 43 percent hike for more than 100 km.

After the government met their demand, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association today called off the indefinite transport strike it enforced on Friday.

The government has issued a gazette notification setting new fare for Dhaka and Chattogram cities and inter-district buses and minibuses.

A government committee has sat in a meeting at the headquarters of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in Dhaka today to re-fix the launch fare.

Associations of goods-carrying vehicle owners said they will continue the ongoing strike until the government slashes fuel price.

Despite the countrywide transport strike, protesting fuel price hike, a faction of owners started operating services in Chattogram city this morning.

Dhaka's Kamalapur Railway Station is seeing rush of passengers -- trying to reach their destinations -- as buses stay off the roads for the third consecutive day, protesting the recent fuel price hike.