Built with public money yet riders deprived
Passengers do not sit there, water drips into the shelter whenever it rains. Photo: Agamir Somoy
Standing at the riders' shed at Paltan intersection in the capital, sixty-year-old Abdul Barek expressed his frustration: "This shelter was built with public money. The government spent lakhs of taka to construct it. But the public has gained nothing from it. Only those who built it have benefited. Passengers don't even sit here—when it rains, water gets into the shelter. And in front, there are van shops on the road. How are passengers supposed to board from here?"
Despite his frustration, Barek himself has been selling tea under this very shed for the past three years.
He said, "The shelter was built with public money, so why can't I sell tea here? And I don't run my shop for free. Nowhere in Dhaka can you run a shop for free."
On Sunday, a visit from Paltan to Gulistan GPO revealed this scenario. Just past the intersection on the way from Paltan to Gulistan is the designated bus stop and passenger shelter. According to regulations, all buses are supposed to stop there to pick up passengers, and passengers are supposed to wait under the shelter. But the reality is completely different. Buses apply their brakes at Paltan Mor itself and pick up passengers from there.
Several passengers were waiting at Paltan Mor. When speaking to them, they said they were unaware that a passenger shelter existed just a short distance away. On the other hand, at the actual shelter, the entire premises were found empty. The condition suggested it had been abandoned for years.
From the road, there was no indication that a bus stop or passenger shelter existed there. The entire road in front of the shelter was occupied by hawkers selling clothes and various other goods from vans. Inside the passenger shelter itself, a couple of tea-and-biscuit shops had sprung up. But of the passengers for whom it was built, there was no trace.
Pedestrian Alam Mahmud expressed his anger. He said, "Many people don't even know about this passenger shelter. Besides, what are passengers supposed to do sitting here? Buses don't stop here. And even if they did, how would passengers board with hawkers' vans in the way? Even if passengers don't use it, homeless and vagrant people have benefited—they sleep on the benches. And often, drug addicts gather here as well."
When asked why buses stop at the intersection instead of the designated stop, Amin, a helper of Victor Classic bus, said, "Passengers stand at every intersection. So we slow down there and pick them up. No one uses the passenger shelter, so we don't use it either."
When contacted about the matter, Md. Khaybor Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), said, "It's not just this passenger shelter—to restore discipline, all bus stops will be monitored."
