Rickshaws are allowed to ply on the busiest roads in the capital in return for bribes to law enforcers, contributing to the city’s traffic jams and increasing the risk of accidents.
Rickshaws are seen plying the VIP roads — even in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, for instance — which were declared off limits to them. Besides, the passengers riding on the manually driven three-wheelers remain oblivious to the risks of getting hit by speeding motor vehicles anytime.
Mirpur Road, Panthapath, Manik Mian Avenue, Phoenix Road, Ittefaq crossing to Bangabhaban, Hatirjheel, and Gulshan link road tell the same story.
“Traffic police receive Tk 80 a day from each rickshaw to let us ply rickshaws between Farmgate and Asad Gate intersection,” a rickshaw puller told The Daily Star recently.
The newly introduced illegal battery-run rickshaws have also turned out to be a jinx on the road. They are made in such a way that the wheels are not engineered to endure speed. Apart from that, the drivers do not care a fig for traffic rules and regulations.
This trend has developed since the last Eid when traffic police, in exchange for petty bribes, were seen slackening the rules to allow manual and battery-run rickshaws and rickshaw vans to ply the roads adjacent to different market places.
Moreover, the traffic police on duty sometimes become too lethargic to bar the rickshaws from plying the roads that are off limits to them.
Asked, Mir Rezaul Alam, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (traffic), said the law enforcers would take action against the traffic police personnel if anyone was found taking bribes and showing negligence in discharging duties.
The traffic department regularly undertakes drives against illegal rickshaws and rickshaws’ illegal plying on the roads, which are off limits to them, he added.
SM Salehuddin, former executive director of Dhaka Transport Coordination Board, has a different observation.
He said the average speed of motorised vehicles on the city roads is only 20 kmph due to traffic jams.
But the speed comes down to 7-8 kmph on the roads where rickshaws ply, he observed, adding that the number of illegal rickshaws had increased a lot in recent times.
In addition, the battery-run rickshaws are creating a huge nuisance and the risks of accidents, he added.
Ashikur Rahman, superintending engineer of Traffic Engineering Division of Dhaka South City Corporation, said the movement of two or three rickshaws were enough to disturb traffic management.
Powerful syndicates of rickshaw and van owners, and workers’ associations backed by different political parties in association with a section of corrupt DCC employees and traffic police are bringing out thousands of illegal rickshaws each month with fake number plates, sources said.
There are around 5 lakh illegal rickshaws and vans in the city.
But only around 79,000 rickshaws and 7,793 rickshaw vans have permission to ply the streets of Dhaka.
-With The Daily Star input
