Photo: Collected
The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR) on Sunday called for controlling battery-run rickshaw movement across the country's large cities including the capital Dhaka, to avoid road accidents. The organisation also urged the authorities to determine the quality of the rickshaws and take initiatives for short-term training to the drivers.
NCPSRR president Mohammad Shahid Mia and its general secretary Ashis Kumar Dey made the call in a statement on Sunday.
According to the statement of the civic organisation sent to the media, the movement of three-wheeled non-mechanised vehicles like battery-powered rickshaws on highways and long-distance roads is prohibited and extremely dangerous.
Despite this, approximately 35-40 lakh battery operated rickshaws are plying across the country including Dhaka.
Mentioning that these small vehicle drivers have no training, the statement said, they drive recklessly as they have no idea about traffic laws. As minor accidents are happening every day in different places, it is also causing serious disruption in the movement of pedestrians and road crossings.
The statement said, despite being illegal and risky, battery-run rickshaws cannot be banned now. Because, at least 1.5 crore people depend directly and indirectly on it.
Therefore, the movement of battery-powered rickshaws on the main roads of the large cities should be strictly controlled, the drivers should be given immediate short-term training and the infrastructure of such rickshaws should be strongly improved to avoid accidents, the leaders said.
Messenger/JRTarek
