POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Nov 7, 2021 :The transport strike has been going on for three days in the country to protest against the increase in diesel and kerosene prices. The leaders of the freight transport owners’ association want the price of diesel to be reduced. And the leaders of the public transport owners’ association are thinking of increasing the bus fare. In such a situation, all the concerned parties are going to sit in a meeting with the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) on Sunday. The meeting is scheduled to be held at BRTA building in Banani at 11 am today.
However, today’s meeting was rejected by the Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association. Rustam Ali Khan, general secretary of the organization, said, “The BRTA meeting is being held to increase bus fares. I don’t understand why we were invited there. We have to reduce the price of diesel, that is our demand.
Why all bus fares will increaseAbout 95% of buses in Dhaka city run on liquefied natural gas. The operation of air-conditioned buses in long distance buses is also gas dependent. Other long-distance buses without air-conditioning use 80 percent gas. If the price of diesel is increased then the question has come up as to why the fare will be increased in all buses.
On the other hand, almost all the vehicles involved in transporting goods run on diesel. They demanded that the price of diesel be reduced. They did not demand an increase in rent.
According to the Commodity and Public Transport Owners Association, there are currently 351,083 registered vehicles in the freight transport sector. There are 6 thousand buses and minibuses. About 40 percent of this runs on diesel. The remaining 80 percent of the buses run on gas.
There are 12,526 BRTA approved buses in Dhaka. According to a study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), 95 percent of these buses run on gas. As such, only 728 buses run on diesel in Dhaka. The remaining 11,900 buses run on gas.
Contrary to such a picture, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association, said that bus fares are increased in Dhaka even when gas prices go up. Now that the price of diesel has gone up, bus fares will be increased in Dhaka. It is by no means reasonable. If the fare increases, it cannot be increased by more than 15 paise per kilometer. Because when the price of diesel was reduced by three rupees per liter, the bus fare was reduced by three paisa per kilometer.
Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association President Moshiur Rahman Ranga said the price of diesel should be reduced without increasing bus fares. If the bus fare is increased now, the government’s position will be questioned. So let the price of diesel be reduced. He said that in tomorrow’s (today’s) meeting, the transport owners’ association will not insist on increasing the bus fare.
However, Khandaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said, “If the price of diesel is not reduced, it will have to be adjusted by increasing bus fares. However, the committee will decide how much the bus fare will increase. We have proposed to increase the rent. The proposal did not mention how much the rent should be increased. I hope the rent will be adjusted rationally.
When asked, BRTA chairman Nur Mohammad Majumder said it was not clear how much the rent would increase. The meeting will discuss the rent. The committee will decide on the adjustment of rent after considering everything.
Professor Hadiuzzaman, a transport expert, said there was no opportunity to increase fares on 95 per cent of buses operating in Dhaka. These all run on gas. The government has to identify the buses that run on diesel. He said At present the fare in Dhaka is 60 paise per kilometer. In case of 5 percent diesel buses in Dhaka, the maximum fare can be increased by 60 paisa per kilometer. Because if the fare is 60 paise per kilometer, two and a half rupees is taken. So even if you increase it by 60 paise, the rent will not be more than 40 paise. Ordinary people are suffering from this scourge of increasing fares or reducing diesel prices. The last three days of strikes have created a stalemate in different parts of the country. Ordinary people who have come out on the road are suffering. Launches have been plying the country’s waterways for the past two days, but the launch has been suspended on Saturday demanding an increase in fares. The strike was partially called off in Chittagong yesterday. After today’s meeting, the victims are hoping that this chaotic situation will end.
