The government has embarked upon a plan to manufacture three-wheeler CNG-driven auto- rickshaws at home aimed at replacing the city’s non-motorised rickshaws.
The ministry of industries took a nine-year project involving initial Tk 26.84 million to manufacture the passenger vehicle by using local expertise and spare parts.
Bangladesh Industrial Technical Assistance Centre and Bangladesh steel and Engineering Corporation, both autonomous bodies under the ministry of industries, are the implementing agencies of the project.
‘The country’s first-ever effort to manufacture the easy-going transport vehicle using local spare parts aimed at easing traffic congestion…’ Ihsanul Karim, acting director of BITAC, told BSS Friday.
He said the main objective of the project is to phase out non-motorised rickshaws and press into operation the CNG-driven auto rickshaw with a rehabilitation option for the rickshaw pullers.
Under the project, he said, rickshaw pullers would get training on technical know-how and be provided with soft-loans to help them enable to
opt for the alternative mode of transportation to earn their livelihood better than ever.
Referring to the poor condition of a sizeable number of motorised vehicles plying the city streets, Karim said most of the vehicles of such nature burn much fuel while caught in traffic jam, contributing pollution enormously into the air.
The existing intolerable gridlock would be reduced to a larger extent besides saving a huge sum of foreign currency when the CNG-driven auto rickshaws would be marketed on commercial basis, he hoped.
BITAC director said large-scale manufacture of the three wheeler CNG-run rickshaws will be done with massive use of small and medium workshops located in the city’s Dholaikhal, a hub of the country’s potential light engineering workshops.
Karim also said an initial estimation of Tk 2.50 lakh might be charged for each 3W CNG-run auto rickshaw equipped with locally-produced sustainable light and medium industries.
Approximately 2,000 3W CNG-driven rickshaws could be produced every year depending on availability of local light and medium industries, said Karim.
