City roads packed with cars, rickshaws amid lockdown
Though public buses were off the roads, the city saw long tailbacks of private cars, microbuses, rickshaws, staff buses and CNG-run auto-rickshaws
Hundreds of people waited for hours to commute to office and return home in the capital on the second day of the nationwide limited lockdown, with all vehicles, except for goods-laden trucks and rickshaws, forbidden to run on the streets.
Though public buses were off the roads, the city saw long tailbacks of private cars, microbuses, rickshaws, staff buses and CNG-run auto-rickshaws. In the morning, there was a rush of vehicles at key points of Dhaka.
One of the office goers, Abdul Momin became impatient having waited for a vehicle at Natun Bazar bus stop for more than an hour. An employee of a private organisation. Momin was already late for office in Uttara.
"The government has imposed a lockdown but my office is still open. I have to reach my workplace anyhow. It is unbearable suffering for office goers like me," he said.
People were seen standing for hours in the capital's Gabtoli, Natun Bazar, Rampura and Kawran Bazar.
Abul Khair, who came to Birdem General Hospital with his sick wife from Shyamoli, said he had to pay Tk300 to reach the hospital by a rickshaw whereas the bus fare for the distance would have been Tk15 for each of them.
He expressed frustration that the restriction on public vehicles made it difficult to deal with an emergency situation like his.
Rickshaw-puller Ezahar Uddin said there were more people on the roads to travel long distances, but they were not finding vehicles other than rickshaws. In just three hours until around 10am, Ezahar earned Tk670.
Through a press release on Monday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police said motorbike riders would not be allowed to take passengers on the pillions. But most of the motorbikes in the city were seen running with passengers on Tuesday.
An on-duty traffic sergeant said, "How many we can stop when people, who are breaching the rules, are too many! There is also a humanitarian aspect involved. But we are taking action for not wearing masks."
Ramana Zone Traffic Sergeant Morshedul Islam told The Business Standard that the police had set up new checkpoints in some areas of the capital.
He said the number of vehicles and people on the roads seemed to have declined significantly, compared to the day before. The police were warning the public not to violate the restrictions to be enforced in the seven-day strict lockdown that will come into effect from Thursday.
Many people were seen flouting traffic rules, as well as health safety guidelines. They either did not wear a face mask at all or put it on wrongly.
Big shopping malls and markets were closed, but small markets and shops were running their businesses as usual without following social distancing.
During visits to Karwan Bazar, Bangla Motor, Shahbagh, and Katabon, law enforcement agencies were not seen taking any strict measures. Neither were there any additional checkpoints.
Meanwhile, thousands of home-goers continued to throng the city's ferry ghats as the country prepared for the nationwide all-out lockdown from 1 July to slow down the pace of infection transmission. Passengers were seen travelling to the jetty areas by private vehicles and auto-rickshaws.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation Shimulia ghat Assistant Manager Faisal Ahmed said there was no specific instruction regarding passenger transit, so people were allowed to cross the river on 14 ferries plying the Shimulia-Banglabazar route ahead of the lockdown.
More than 200 vehicles were waiting at the ghat to cross the river, he said.
Army, Border Guard Bangladesh, and Battalion Police will be deployed to take all measures to implement the strict lockdown from 6:00am of 1 July to the midnight of 7 July.