Shawdesh Desk: Thousands of rickshaw pullers and owners on Tuesday continued their blockade at several points on the road from Kuril to Sayedabad via Malibagh, one of the major routes in the capital, for the second day.

The blockade was enforced for withdrawal of the ban on plying of rickshaws on three important roads in the capital, which has hit hard, besides rickshaw pullers and owners, commuters and city dwellers, especially of the adjacent localities.

They blocked the route at various points for three to eight hours, also demanding eviction of illegal rickshaw-vans, separate lanes for rickshaws and rickshaw-vans and issuance of new licences as per the Dhaka City Corporation’s 2001 decision.

Leaders of the Dhaka Uttar-Dakhkhin City Corporation Onumodita Rickshaw-van Malik Oikya Parishad, the Bangladesh Rickshaw-van Malik Federation and the Mahanagar Rickshaw Malik Samity enforced the blockade.

The Bangladesh Rickshaw-van Malik Federation also formed human chains at places of the route stretching around 12 kilometres.

The protesters enforced the blockade on Monday first after the two city corporations implemented their decision to ban rickshaws on the three roads — one from Kuril to Sayedabad via Rampura and Khilgaon, another from Gabtoli to Azimpur via Asad Gate and the other from the Science Laboratory crossing to the Shahbagh crossing — to ease traffic congestions, effective from July 7.

Between 9:00am and 10:00am, the protesters took position at at least 30 points of the route including Kuril, a spot near Basundhara City, Nadda, Shahajadpur, Badda, Rampura, Abul Hotel Mor, Malibagh, Khilgaon, Bouddhamandir Mor, Mugdha, Manda and Maniknagar points and blocked the points by putting on the road brick- or sand-filled sacks, cement-made blocks, city corporation-collected wastes or what they found near them and also using ropes.

As a result, the vehicular movement came to a standstill on the roads and the protesters even prevented rickshaws and motorcycles from plying on the road, putting commuters to terrible sufferings, especially the office-, school- and college-goers.

A number of schools including Banashree branch of Ideal School and College had announced closure for the day. Still, many unknowingly came to the school to endure utter hardship.

‘I got no rickshaw in my locality and finally began to walk at about 11:00am with my son to go to his school at Banashree. The auto rickshaws are costly and not always available in the area. There is also no other easy means to go to Banashree from Mahanagar Housing,’ Tania Rahman, mother of a student of Banashree branch of Ideal School and College, told New Age.

People had to get down from buses and began to walk for their destinations due to the blockade.

Abdus Salam, a resident of Banashree and a private job-holder at Matijheel, had to begin walking to reach his office. ‘There is no other way,’ he said near Rampura Bridge at about 9:15am.

Many commuters, especially women with their children and luggage and elderly people, were the worst-affected and had to stay inside buses in sultry weather for hours on and waited until the withdrawal of the blockade.

‘I have been alone in this bus for four hours as I have my lactating son and luggage with me. I can’t venture to leave the bus in this situation,’ Laila Begum, a lactating mother from Savar and the lone passenger in a stranded bus of Labbaik Paribahan, told New Age at Malibagh at about 2:00pm during the blockade.

She added that her brother had already been at Bipile of Savar to receive her for two hours. ‘I don’t know when I will reach there,’ she said.

As no vehicles plied on the Kuril-Sayedabad road the pressure fell on the adjacent and nearby roads, which witnessed huge traffic congestions, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s traffic department officials said.

‘My bus could advance only half a kilometre from Mouchak in one hour and 15 minutes,’ Md Ahad, a driver’s assistant of a Chiriakhana-bound Ayat Paribahan bus, said.

The protesters withdrew the blockade from Maniknagar to Khilgaon at about 1:00pm and vehicular movement began on this part of the route then.

But the Farmgate- and Gazipur-bound vehicles had to wait at the Malibagh rail gate point until 4:00pm when the protesters withdrew their blockade there.

The blockades at all the points, barring that at the Paschim Rampura point, on the Malibagh-Kuril section were withdrawn between 4:00pm and 4:30pm.

The blockade at Paschim Rampura point went on until 9:00pm.

During the blockade hours, many passers-by repeatedly expressed their solidarity with the rickshaw-pullers’ movement.

Rickshaw puller Md Shakha Miah at the Rampura point said that rickshaw pullers of the Kuril-Sayedabad road had no alternative as only it was available for them to live by. So this road’s rickshaw pullers took to the streets.

He demanded continued opportunity to ply rickshaws on the road until alternative employment opportunities were created for the rickshaw pullers.

Meanwhile, Dhaka south city mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon after a programme in the city invited agitating owners of the licensed rickshaws for a dialogue to settle the issue through discussion.

He said that the length of roads in the entire city would be around 2,500 to 3,000 kilometres. ‘But we restricted the rickshaw only on few kilometres of them. We will meet the representatives of the rickshaw pullers who have registrations,’ the mayor told reporters.

The two city corporations have given licences to around 75,000 rickshaws but it was recently claimed that over two million illegal rickshaws were plying on the city roads, he added.

Bangladesh Rickshaw-van Malik Federation vice-president Harunur Rsahid, also a local Awami League member who led the agitation at Mugdha point, told New Age that they withdrew their blockade at about 1:00pm as they came to know that the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to ensure separate lanes for rickshaws, rickshaw-vans and slow-moving vehicles.

The PM gave the directive at the meeting of the executive committee of the National Economic Council, according to Harunur.

He said that the local AL leaders and the police administration also assured them that their demands would be met through discussion and that they hoped that their demands would be met soon with the prime minister’s direction.

Harunur said that they received no invitation till Tuesday 11:00pm from mayor Sayeed Khokon.

He said that officers-in-charge of different police stations, including Mugda, Sabujbagh, Khilgaon, Rampura, Badda and Vatara, through which the Kuril-Sayedabad route crosses, held meetings with local leaders of rickshaw owners in the evening.

He said the police officials and owners reached a decision that the police would allow rickshaws at certain places only when the rickshaws would need to cross the road at certain crossings and places until a separate lane was made on the roads.

He said that they would organize a rally in front of the National Press Club tomorrow and submit a memorandum to the prime minister to press home their demands.

Jatiya Rickshaw-van Sramik League general secretary Insur Ali told New Age that the movement was spontaneous as no organisation led the pullers.

The pro-Awami League leader called an emergency press conference at his office today 11:00am.

The decision of banning rickshaws on the three major roads was taken by a special committee led by Dhaka South City Mayor Sayeed Khokon on July 3.