Dhaka: Transport owners and workers resumed the operation of vehicles on Wednesday afternoon withdrawing their indefinite strike which had created a serious countrywide travel chaos for 36 hours.

Nearly an hour after Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan’s call to the transport owners and workers, it was seen long-haul buses and trucks started leaving with passengers and goods from the city’s different bus terminals, including  Gabtoli and Mohakhali, for various destinations.

Inter-city buses were also seen plying different routes from 3:30pm.

Contacted, Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation secretary general Khandaker Enayet Ullah said they conveyed the owners and workers leaders their message to operate their vehicles.

“We’ve withdrawn our strike responding to the call of our leader Shajahan Khan and started plying our vehicles,” Bangladesh inter-district Truck Drivers’ Union president Tajul Islam told news agency UNB.

Earlier, speaking at a press conference at BTRC Bhaban in the city around 2:30pm, Shajahan Khan urged the transport owners and workers to operate their vehicles ending the stalemate in the transport sector.

Shajahan Khan, also the executive president of Bangladesh Road Transport workers’ Federation, made the call after he along with another transport leader and State Minister for Rural Development & Cooperatives Division Moshiur Rahman Ranga held a meeting with the leaders of Bangladesh Road Transport Association, Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners’ Association, Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Owners Association and Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation.

Earlier in the day, Shajahan Khan, Ranga and Enayet Ullah had a meeting with Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Law Minister Anisul Huq at the secretariat. 

Speaking the press conference, Shajahan Khan said, “We met Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Law Minister Anisul Huq when they realised the problems of the transport owners and workers, and they assured us of providing all possible cooperation to resolve the emerging situation.”

 “Following the ministers’ assurance, we request the country’s all transport owners and workers to run their vehicles to end the ongoing stalemate,” he said.

The minister hoped that the road communications will return to normalcy across the country following his request.

Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation enforced the countrywide indefinite strike on Tuesday protesting two court verdicts – one sentencing life imprisonment to a bus driver in a case filed for a road accident that killed five people, including noted filmmaker Tareque Masud and cinematographer Mishuk Munier while the other sentencing another drive to death in another case filed over a road accident.

People across the country, including those in the capital city, went through immense sufferings due to the strike.

The commuters, especially women, children and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinees, suffered badly on roads for lack of public transport, and many had had to go to their destinations on foot.

Amid the absence of busses, rickshaw and CNG-run auto rickshaws and BRTC buses hade been the main modes of public transport during the 36-hour strike, but too inadequate to help huge commuters. 

“I waited for an hour near Rampur Bridge to have an auto-rickshaw to go to Motijheel, but failed. I finally hired a rickshaw at Tk 150 as fare,” said Abul Kalam, a grocer.

Long-route passengers, who had to go to different cities and towns for urgent works, also suffered for lack of buses. Many of them were seen traveling by trains with no space left to move inside at every compartment of the inter-city and express trains.

Some people also went to their destinations in microbuses and human-haulers paying much higher than usual days.

“I came to Mohipal in Feni around 7am to catch a microbus to go to Dhaka. Most microbuses were demanding Tk 1,000 to 800 each. But, I had only Tk 650 and I couldn’t mange any microbus driver to take me at Tk 600,” Jamal Uddin, office assistant of a private company told UNB around 8:30am.

The country’s economy was also hit hard as goods-carrying vehicles remained stuck at different points due to the strike. Loading and unloading at Mongla Seaport in Bagerhat and Bhomra Land Port in Satkhira were hampered due to the strike.