Chittagong Bureau :
With no visible efforts yet to stop plying of battery-run rickshaws by the authorities concerned despite a High Court ban, the unauthorised mode of vehicle still continue to ply the roads of the port city.
Around one lakh battery-run rickshaws are now plying the port city streets under 13 different associations, sources said. Apart from these, 70,000 manual rickshaws licensed under Chittagong City Corporation ply the city roads.
The High Court on July 3, 2014 issued a ban on plying of mechanised and battery-run rickshaws across the country for not running with valid licences as per the law. The court came up with the verdict after rejecting five writ petitions filed by five rickshaw owners’ associations.
The associations had filed the petitions with the HC on different days last year and this year seeking HC directives upon the city corporation authorities to provide licences to the vehicles.
Khairul Islam Saju filed a petition on behalf of the battery-run rickshaw owners with the Appellate Division of the HC. However, the apex court on August 6, 2014, rejected the petition and also directed the CCC (Chittagong City Corporation) to dispose of the matter within a period from the receipt of the order.
Contacted, Ali Ahmed, chief executive officer of the CCC, told the journalists that the copy of the HC order reached them.
“The corporation does not have any authority to issue license to any motorised vehicle. The matter of evicting the unlicensed battery-run rickshaws simply lies with the law enforcement agencies,” said Ali Ahmed.
While talking to The Independent, Faruk Ahmed, deputy commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (Traffic), said if the CCC seeks any help, police are bound to cooperate with it regarding the eviction drive against the illegal auto-rickshaws plying the city roads.
“We have already launched a drive and are thinking to conduct eviction of the unlicensed rickshaws in a large scale,” said Rafiqul Islam, assistant director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Chittagong.
Replying to a query, the BRTA official said that the BRTA is solely vested with the authority to give license to any mechanised vehicle.
“However, the battery-run rickshaws fail to fulfill the criteria of mechanised vehicle. Moreover, the battery-run rickshaws do not have any safety gear and that’s why a lot of accidents are reported to take place almost every day, ” added Rafiqul.
“Why does the government allow import of the equipment of battery-run rickshaws?” asked Firoj Alam, Vice-president of Chittagong Battery-run Auto-rickshaws Owners’ Association.
“The number of battery-run rickshaws would not rise so rapidly if the government prevents them. The CCC gave us license to set up garage in the city,” said Firoj, adding that several lakhs of people dependent on plying of rickshaws for their livelihood would be utterly ruined if the court order is implemented.
“There is no legal bar to conducting drive against the battery-run rickshaws in the city. We will be bound to wage a tough movement if the authorities show reluctance to go against the battery-run rickshaws,” said Md Harunur Rashid, General Secretary of Chittagong Auto-rickshaw Sramik Union.
