Many garment workers in trouble-hit Ashulia have left for home or in search of jobs elsewhere, as they remain without income for the shutdown of more than 300 factories in the industrial belt.
It all started a week ago when a labour unrest flared at apparel units in Ashulia over demands for pay hikes. Nearly 5 lakh workers are employed at garment factories in the industrial zone.
Workers say they cannot afford to stay in Ashulia when the factories are closed.
"We have no alternative but to leave. We cannot afford to live here without any earnings. Many have already left," said Sagar Hossain, worker of a garment factory at Nishchintapur in Ashulia.
Sagar went to the Dhaka-Tangail highway to see off his two colleagues.
He said his friends had to leave for their homes in Jamalpur, as groceries in the area stopped giving them essentials on credit fearing they might not be able to repay their debts.
All garment factories in Ashulia were shut on June 17, a day after Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had decided to keep them closed following the labour unrest.
Agitating workers have been demonstrating for more than a week demanding a hike in their wages. They say their wages were last hiked nearly two years ago, but since then their living costs have shot up for price spiral of essentials and rise in house rents.
Though paid on monthly basis, the wages of sweater factory workers are determined by the number of pieces they produce, while workers in other apparel factories get paid for the days of their work.
Sagar, who is from Faridpur, said many garment workers at Mollar Colony, where he shares a room with his two co-workers, have already left for home.
Sathi Akhter, garment worker of another factory, and her sister Asma Akhter were waiting on the highway for a vehicle to go to Nabinagar, from where they would take a bus to their home in Madaripur.
Sathi, who used to earn Tk 4,300 a month, said many of her co-workers had already left the industrial belt, as without an income they could not meet their living expenses.
She said they would return to Ashulia once the factories reopen.
Mohammad Shahjalal, a sweater maker, said: "If we go home, we at least won't need to spend on lodging."
Some workers said many of their co-workers had left Ashulia fearing police action. They also alleged that ruling party activists had been threatening them with dire consequence if they joined the demonstrations.
"My parents are scared. They have asked me to go home as soon as possible," garment worker Mahruf Hossain said while waiting for a bus with his brother-in-law and co-worker Deen Islam at Zirabo in Ashulia.
Sirajul Islam Roni, coordinator of Bangladesh Garment Workers' Unity Council, said about 80 percent of apparel workers in Ashulia had left either for home or in search of jobs elsewhere.
Arefin Hossain, a ticket seller at Bypile, said there had been a surge of passengers at the bus station since the demonstrations began more than a week ago.
Small businesses such as roadside eateries in the industrial belt saw a sharp fall in sales, as many garment workers -- their main customers -- had left the area.
Ruhul Amin, owner of a grocery shop in Nishchintapur, said many of his regular customers, mostly garment workers, had gone home over the last week.
He said many workers don't even have enough money to pay for a ride back home.
Amin said a worker had bought two kilograms of sugar from a grocery shop on credit and sold it to him at a lower price for buying a bus ticket to his home.
Another worker had sold him cosmetics which he believed had been bought on credit from another nearby shop, said Amin.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, another worker said he had requested his parents to send money to the mobile phone of Amin so that he could go home.
