Amid the ongoing energy crisis, Bangladesh has recently resorted to some austerity measures to save electricity. The government has already announced a series of measures including the closure of shopping malls and markets by 8:00pm, area-wise planned power cuts and restricted use of air-conditioners. Plans are afoot to limit even office hours. Against this backdrop, some people are calling for a complete ban on battery-run rickshaws and auto-rickshaws. Many of them have estimated that the ban could save up to 1,500 megawatts of power if implemented. But before banning battery-powered vehicles, we must consider why the number of these vehicles is increasing over the years.
Battery-powered rickshaws and auto-rickshaws have become an integral part of our rural economy. Banning them would mean making hundreds of thousands of people unemployed. These vehicles help increase the mobility of many people within a short distance. They make travel a little cheaper than human-pulled rickshaws. Most of our rural areas do not have adequate and convenient public transports. Hence, these vehicles are like blessings for rural people. They are now very popular public transport in semi-urban and rural areas of the country. If these vehicles are banned, our rural economy will immediately fall into trouble.
Battery-run rickshaws are environment-friendly and energy-savers. A fully charged battery-run rickshaw can reportedly travel more than 200 kilometres. So, instead of banning them, we should now move away from the human-pulled rickshaw transportation system, and replace them with improved versions of battery-powered eco-friendly vehicles.
Abu Elias Linkon,
Banasree, Dhaka,
lightening_sparkle@yahoo.com