Noman Mosharef :
Traffic jam is currently a regular phenomenon in the capital city, considering rickshaw to be one of the main contributors to gridlock.
Three decades ago, the then undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) had stopped issuing licences to rickshaws in view of time and economic losses of people everyday.
Besides, lack of seasonal employments in the villages pushes the agricultural workers to the city and accommodate them into this informal sector, particularly during the fasting month of Ramzan. So, the number of rickshaws continues to swell this month, creating a total mess in the traffic system.
According to the DCC, then there were 87,811 legal rickshaws in the capital. Of which, 58,981 are now registered with Dhaka Southern City Corporations (DSCC) and 28,830 with Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).
Since the two city corporations are neither renewing nor issuing any licence, a number of organisations are taking the advantage
of the situation and illegally issuing number plates to rickshaws.
A survey done by Urban and Planning Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said the number of registered rickshaws in the capital is more than 85,000.
In contrast, the unregistered rickshaws are about 10 to 12 lakh, according to the survey. Rickshaw is now under control of at least 30 dishonest groups. They also authorise number plates. As a result, a huge amount of money goes to their pockets.
Rickshaw owners said they cannot renew the registration of their old rickshaws or register any new ones by the two city corporations. Without getting permission they use number plates issued by workers’ organisations and associations to launch new rickshaws on the streets.
These organizations also manage all the sectors, including traffic. They are paid at a fixed rate for this. They are also needed to pay money and fee at end of the year for licence renewal.
Rickshaw owners said they will not take shelter of the syndicates if the the city corporations give their rickshaws legitimacy.
Not getting registered with city corporations, these rickshaws are being run through different organisations or syndicates. The owners have to negotiate with the syndicates to run their rickshaws on the streets.
These Syndicates are mainly led by Bangladesh Rickshaw and Van Owner Federation, National Rickshaw-Van Sramik League and Bangladesh Rickshaw Owner League. Apart from this, there are Bangladesh Rickshaw-Van Workers’ Movement Council, Bangladesh Rickshaw Owner Federation, and Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Coordination Council. They claim their organizations as legitimate ones under the Labour Department.
These organisations do not know the exact number of rickshaws and vans registered under their organizations. They just launch rickshaw and collect money from the rickshaw owners.
Bangladesh Rickshaw-Van Sramik League General Secretary Insur Ali said that in 2001, they had a contract with the undivided city corporation for the registration of 35,000 rickshaws and 8,000 vans. However, his organisation’s registration is yet to be completed. Around 43,000 rickshaw-vans are running on the street of Dhaka city with number plates containng our organization.
He said the renewal fee of Tk 300 per year is deposited with the organisation. They are ready to pay the deposited revenue of Tk 16 crore to the government. But neither the government nor the city corporation is addressing it properly. Besides, we take Tk 20 per rickshaw for every three months, with the permission from the Labour Department, Insur Ali added.
The workers leader also said apart from them there are many associations that have no permission from the authority. They always launch rickshaws with the help of owners. They have more than two lakh rickshaws. He said the latest syndicate is the one of battery-run-rickshaw. Our movement against them has not been proved effective. If the government registers a certain number of rickshaw-vans and ban the illegal ones, the traffic congestion would be reduced significantly.
Ravindra Barua, Chief Revenue Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation, said, “Lastly, we gave permission for valid rickshaws in the north for five years. They were also given registered number plates which have expired. Their permission will be renewed for five years in this year. They will also be given new number plates.
In addition to this, mobile courts have also been formed several times to stop illegal rickshaws in Dhaka North City Corporation, he said, adding campaign is always going on for stoping rickshaws by the law enforcers (traffic).
The revenue official said they are discouraging launching new rickshaws to reduce the traffic congestion in the capital.
Asked whether the registration of rickshaw would include the expanded areas of the city, the officer said the city corporation and the local government can comment on it.
Yusuf Ali Sardar, Chief Revenue Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation, said, “We are renewing our registered rickshaws every five years.” Authorities do not have any plan of registering unregistered rickshaws in the city. We cannot do anything even though different owner organizations are launching rickshaws illegally.
Asked why the government does not agree to take the revenue from these organizations when they are ready to give revenue, the revenue officer said if we cannot decide on giving permission to their rickshaws, how will we accept revenue?
The official said the government is losing millions of revenue due to illegal rickshaws in the capital. But they do not want to do much about it.
City Planner and Professor of BUET Sarwar Jahan said the number of rickshaws is increasing at a huge rate because people of Dhaka city are not getting adequate public transport. Rickshaw fares are too expensive to bear, but the general people have no alternative choice.
Traffic jam is currently a regular phenomenon in the capital city, considering rickshaw to be one of the main contributors to gridlock.
Three decades ago, the then undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) had stopped issuing licences to rickshaws in view of time and economic losses of people everyday.
Besides, lack of seasonal employments in the villages pushes the agricultural workers to the city and accommodate them into this informal sector, particularly during the fasting month of Ramzan. So, the number of rickshaws continues to swell this month, creating a total mess in the traffic system.
According to the DCC, then there were 87,811 legal rickshaws in the capital. Of which, 58,981 are now registered with Dhaka Southern City Corporations (DSCC) and 28,830 with Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).
Since the two city corporations are neither renewing nor issuing any licence, a number of organisations are taking the advantage
of the situation and illegally issuing number plates to rickshaws.
A survey done by Urban and Planning Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said the number of registered rickshaws in the capital is more than 85,000.
In contrast, the unregistered rickshaws are about 10 to 12 lakh, according to the survey. Rickshaw is now under control of at least 30 dishonest groups. They also authorise number plates. As a result, a huge amount of money goes to their pockets.
Rickshaw owners said they cannot renew the registration of their old rickshaws or register any new ones by the two city corporations. Without getting permission they use number plates issued by workers’ organisations and associations to launch new rickshaws on the streets.
These organizations also manage all the sectors, including traffic. They are paid at a fixed rate for this. They are also needed to pay money and fee at end of the year for licence renewal.
Rickshaw owners said they will not take shelter of the syndicates if the the city corporations give their rickshaws legitimacy.
Not getting registered with city corporations, these rickshaws are being run through different organisations or syndicates. The owners have to negotiate with the syndicates to run their rickshaws on the streets.
These Syndicates are mainly led by Bangladesh Rickshaw and Van Owner Federation, National Rickshaw-Van Sramik League and Bangladesh Rickshaw Owner League. Apart from this, there are Bangladesh Rickshaw-Van Workers’ Movement Council, Bangladesh Rickshaw Owner Federation, and Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Coordination Council. They claim their organizations as legitimate ones under the Labour Department.
These organisations do not know the exact number of rickshaws and vans registered under their organizations. They just launch rickshaw and collect money from the rickshaw owners.
Bangladesh Rickshaw-Van Sramik League General Secretary Insur Ali said that in 2001, they had a contract with the undivided city corporation for the registration of 35,000 rickshaws and 8,000 vans. However, his organisation’s registration is yet to be completed. Around 43,000 rickshaw-vans are running on the street of Dhaka city with number plates containng our organization.
He said the renewal fee of Tk 300 per year is deposited with the organisation. They are ready to pay the deposited revenue of Tk 16 crore to the government. But neither the government nor the city corporation is addressing it properly. Besides, we take Tk 20 per rickshaw for every three months, with the permission from the Labour Department, Insur Ali added.
The workers leader also said apart from them there are many associations that have no permission from the authority. They always launch rickshaws with the help of owners. They have more than two lakh rickshaws. He said the latest syndicate is the one of battery-run-rickshaw. Our movement against them has not been proved effective. If the government registers a certain number of rickshaw-vans and ban the illegal ones, the traffic congestion would be reduced significantly.
Ravindra Barua, Chief Revenue Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation, said, “Lastly, we gave permission for valid rickshaws in the north for five years. They were also given registered number plates which have expired. Their permission will be renewed for five years in this year. They will also be given new number plates.
In addition to this, mobile courts have also been formed several times to stop illegal rickshaws in Dhaka North City Corporation, he said, adding campaign is always going on for stoping rickshaws by the law enforcers (traffic).
The revenue official said they are discouraging launching new rickshaws to reduce the traffic congestion in the capital.
Asked whether the registration of rickshaw would include the expanded areas of the city, the officer said the city corporation and the local government can comment on it.
Yusuf Ali Sardar, Chief Revenue Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation, said, “We are renewing our registered rickshaws every five years.” Authorities do not have any plan of registering unregistered rickshaws in the city. We cannot do anything even though different owner organizations are launching rickshaws illegally.
Asked why the government does not agree to take the revenue from these organizations when they are ready to give revenue, the revenue officer said if we cannot decide on giving permission to their rickshaws, how will we accept revenue?
The official said the government is losing millions of revenue due to illegal rickshaws in the capital. But they do not want to do much about it.
City Planner and Professor of BUET Sarwar Jahan said the number of rickshaws is increasing at a huge rate because people of Dhaka city are not getting adequate public transport. Rickshaw fares are too expensive to bear, but the general people have no alternative choice.
