bdnews24.com :
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority or BRTA has begun to replace several thousand old autorickshaws, sometimes referred to as ‘moving bombs’, in Chattogram.
The process began on Apr 12 at BRTA’s Baluchara office in Chattogram. A replacement auto-rickshaw is being provided to every owner, said BRTA Dhaka Divisional Deputy Director Md Masud Alam. In Chattogram, 554 autorickshaws have been purged while 15 new autorickshaws have been registered, said Chattogram Divisional Deputy Director Md Shahidullah Kaiser. The replacement work will be completed according to schedule and is proceeding ‘quickly’, Masud, the convener of the Expired Four-Stroke Three-Wheeler Scrapping Committee told bdnews24.com.
The Roads and Highways Department recently wrote to the BRTA to replace the 13,000 expired auto-rickshaws over 15 years old in Dhaka by September and in Chattogram by July.
The BRTA was also asked to begin the work at multiple locations in both metropolitan cities to speed up the process.
The BRTA has formed a Expired Four-Stroke Three-Wheeler Scrapping Committee headed by two deputy-directors in Dhaka and Chattogram to handle the matter. More than 3,000 autorickshaw owners have applied for replacement as Apr 25, BRTA officials said. A total of 920 autorickshaws have been purged as of Thursday and at least 70 are scrapped a day, they said.
However, some of the vehicles are awaiting a specialist examination as their chassis and engine numbers are not clearly visible.
The registration of new autorickshaws is proceeding simultaneously with the scrapping of the old ones. At least 150 new autorickshaws have been registered with BRTA Mirpur office, while 63 have done with its Ekuria office, BRTA officials said. BRTA officials say it has issued an advert with the vehicle numbers in newspapers following the application from autorickshaw owners.
The owners then came to BRTA with their vehicles and had them scrapped after an examination. BRTA officials were seen checking chassis and engine numbers of the auto-rickshaws queued in the BRTA Ekuria office premises when this reporter visited on Thursday. The gas cylinders, chassis numbers and number-plates of the old auto-rickshaws were being removed.
It was then sent to the excavator to crush the auto-rickshaws. The owners took back the remains to sell them as scrap metal. Cylinders from the scraped autorickshaws were kept aside as the BRTA will require the help of the Department of Explosives to dispose of them, Assistant Director Shamsul Kabir told bdnews24.com.
Although he has received a license for new auto-rickshaws, the process will still cost him about Tk 1 million, said Mohammed Liton, an owner who disposed of two old auto-rickshaws. Deputy Director Masud Alam said the BRTA has the full information regarding all autorickshaw owners.
“Owners are getting a new registration done with their old documents once an old autorickshaw is purged,” said Masud Alam. He said 250 new autorickshaws have already begun operating on the roads. Auto-rickshaw sales and servicing centres in Moghbazar have been busy with installing hood, bumper, light casing and other decorations for the new autorickshaws as owners of new vehicles stream in after the replacement process.
“New auto-rickshaws are more powerful than the old one as they have a 205cc engine instead of a 170cc engine,” said Bazlur Rahman, owner of Runa Auto Centre.
At present, a total of 26,652 autorickshaws are operating in the two cities: 13,652 in Dhaka and 13,000 in Chattogram.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority or BRTA has begun to replace several thousand old autorickshaws, sometimes referred to as ‘moving bombs’, in Chattogram.
The process began on Apr 12 at BRTA’s Baluchara office in Chattogram. A replacement auto-rickshaw is being provided to every owner, said BRTA Dhaka Divisional Deputy Director Md Masud Alam. In Chattogram, 554 autorickshaws have been purged while 15 new autorickshaws have been registered, said Chattogram Divisional Deputy Director Md Shahidullah Kaiser. The replacement work will be completed according to schedule and is proceeding ‘quickly’, Masud, the convener of the Expired Four-Stroke Three-Wheeler Scrapping Committee told bdnews24.com.
The Roads and Highways Department recently wrote to the BRTA to replace the 13,000 expired auto-rickshaws over 15 years old in Dhaka by September and in Chattogram by July.
The BRTA was also asked to begin the work at multiple locations in both metropolitan cities to speed up the process.
The BRTA has formed a Expired Four-Stroke Three-Wheeler Scrapping Committee headed by two deputy-directors in Dhaka and Chattogram to handle the matter. More than 3,000 autorickshaw owners have applied for replacement as Apr 25, BRTA officials said. A total of 920 autorickshaws have been purged as of Thursday and at least 70 are scrapped a day, they said.
However, some of the vehicles are awaiting a specialist examination as their chassis and engine numbers are not clearly visible.
The registration of new autorickshaws is proceeding simultaneously with the scrapping of the old ones. At least 150 new autorickshaws have been registered with BRTA Mirpur office, while 63 have done with its Ekuria office, BRTA officials said. BRTA officials say it has issued an advert with the vehicle numbers in newspapers following the application from autorickshaw owners.
The owners then came to BRTA with their vehicles and had them scrapped after an examination. BRTA officials were seen checking chassis and engine numbers of the auto-rickshaws queued in the BRTA Ekuria office premises when this reporter visited on Thursday. The gas cylinders, chassis numbers and number-plates of the old auto-rickshaws were being removed.
It was then sent to the excavator to crush the auto-rickshaws. The owners took back the remains to sell them as scrap metal. Cylinders from the scraped autorickshaws were kept aside as the BRTA will require the help of the Department of Explosives to dispose of them, Assistant Director Shamsul Kabir told bdnews24.com.
Although he has received a license for new auto-rickshaws, the process will still cost him about Tk 1 million, said Mohammed Liton, an owner who disposed of two old auto-rickshaws. Deputy Director Masud Alam said the BRTA has the full information regarding all autorickshaw owners.
“Owners are getting a new registration done with their old documents once an old autorickshaw is purged,” said Masud Alam. He said 250 new autorickshaws have already begun operating on the roads. Auto-rickshaw sales and servicing centres in Moghbazar have been busy with installing hood, bumper, light casing and other decorations for the new autorickshaws as owners of new vehicles stream in after the replacement process.
“New auto-rickshaws are more powerful than the old one as they have a 205cc engine instead of a 170cc engine,” said Bazlur Rahman, owner of Runa Auto Centre.
At present, a total of 26,652 autorickshaws are operating in the two cities: 13,652 in Dhaka and 13,000 in Chattogram.
