SM Najmus Sakib
The ball starts rolling for extending the validity period of CNG-run auto-rickshaws by another six months with their lifespan expiring by the end of the current month.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Director (engineering) Md Nurul Islam said a proposal seeking extension of the lifespan for the interim period was forwarded to the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry.
The ministry, however, was yet to take any decision to that effect, he added.
The initiative comes amid the conflicting views of owners and workers about the fresh lease of life for the 15-year-old three-wheelers.
The onus of extending the lifespan of the vehicles by another six years lies with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) that is testing them for their fitness.
The vehicles were imported with nine years' valid economic life. Later, on several occasions it was raised to 15 years.
The latest deadline for the 13,020 CNG-run auto-rickshaws out of 26,652 in Dhaka and Chittagong cities expires by the month-end.
The CNG auto-rickshaw owners' association handed over a proposal to the government recently seeking extension of the time span by another six years.
The BRTA turned to the BUET for their opinion on the proposal. The Mechanical Engineering Department of the BUET has agreed to conduct necessary tests, but only after getting paid half the total expenditure, which is about Tk 2.50 million (Tk 24.72 lakh).
Barkatullah Bulu, President of Dhaka Metropolitan CNG-run Auto-rickshaw Owners Association, said they had transferred Tk 1.20 million to the BUET authority's bank account recently to that effect.
"Processes have already started, and it will take six to eight weeks to get the final result" he added quoting the BUET authority.
Bulu said on receipt of the BUET opinion, they would decide on whether to repair or replace their three-wheelers.
"We want to repair these auto-rickshaws instead of replacing them, as it will help save the country's foreign exchange reserves," the leader said.
But leaders of Dhaka and Chittagong units of CNG Auto-rickshaw Workers' Unity Council have urged the BUET authority not to recommend any more time extension for these CNG-run auto-rickshaws.
Terming the soon-to-be-expired vehicles as 'moving bombs,' they submitted a memorandum to the department of the university earlier this month.
Following the drivers' stance, the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads & Railways (NCPSRR), a rights group, also strongly opposed the BRTA move in a statement recently.
'Such an approval would be quite illogical and a threat to passengers' safety', the statement read.
However, dissension has been there among some owners as the association is collecting money from them for the test of their vehicles and meeting other necessary expenditure.
They think the cost of vehicle test should be borne by the government.
However, BRTA Director Md Nurul Islam said there is no room for such controversy. It's a legal system to get one's own assets tested.
At present, a total of 26,652 CNG-run auto-rickshaws are plying the roads in the capital and the port city. Of them, the lifespan of 5,561 in Dhaka and 7,459 in Chittagong will expire by the end of this month. The validity period for the rest of them expires by December 31 next year.
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