With the Eid-ul-Fitr festival approaching nearer, some bus operators are now busy painting their unfit and worn-out vehicles to keep them ready for carrying homebound Eid passengers to different districts.
Around 1,500 old buses are being repaired to operate on different highways across the country, according to sources.
During a visit to Savar, our correspondent saw that repair work on old buses are going on in more than 120 garages in Amin Bazar, Hemayetpur, Nayarhat, Ashulia, and Dhamrai.
Workers at these garages told the Bangladesh Post that they need to hand over the buses to their owners within 20 days of Ramadan after the completion of repair work.
Some passengers said that they have to travel on these worn-out buses risking their life. Transport experts said the authorities should increase monitoring to stop operation of unfit buses.
A bus owner at a garage said, “Our buses have fitness certificates. We are denting and painting our buses to attract Eid passengers.
Professor Md. Shafiq ur Rahman of Jahangirnagar University’s Urban and Regional Planning Department, the authorities concerned need to increase their monitoring. Strict action should be taken against the unfit vehicles as per law, he added.
Minister for Liberation War Affairs AKM Mozammel Haque on Sunday said that the bus owners will be warned in advance so that unfit vehicles cannot ply roard during the upcoming Eid festival.
Meanwhile, BRTA Chairman Noor Mohammad Majumdar urged the bus owners not to operate unfit buses on the roads during Eid festival. He also requested the drivers to run vehicles at normal speed to prevent road accidents.
The BRTA chairman made the call at meeting with the goods transport owners and workers held at Tejgaon truck stand in the capital. He also said goods-laden vehicles should refrain from taking passengers to avoid accidents..
According to the data of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, 552 people died in 526 road accidents across the country during Eid-ul-Fitr last year and most of the buses that met with accidents were unfit.
