Half of motor vehicles operate without fitness certificates

Nearly half a million motorised vehicles are running throughout the country without any fitness, according to BRTA statistics.
Almost fifty per cent of these vehicles are running in and around the capital city.
The data available with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) shows around 0.5 million vehicles, out of 0.98 million, obtain their fitness certificates from the offices concerned across the country every year.
Officials at the traffic department of Bangladesh Police, however, expressed their doubt about the actual fitness of vehicles against which the BRTA issue fitness certificates from time to time.
They said many of the vehicle-owners, in connivance with a section of dishonest BRTA officials and brokers were obtaining certificates without undergoing
any inspection.
"It is really worrying that only four out of ten drivers can show fitness certificates when checked," a deputy commissioner (DC) of traffic department told the FE Friday preferring anonymity.
"If we become strict, then more than 70 per cent of public and private transports will have to be grounded for want of fitness certificates. That would create a serious problem in the transport sector," he added.
"We are trying to reduce the illegal practice through organising mobile courts and regular and sudden drives, though shortage of our manpower and logistics is a major obstacle," the DC traffic said.
However, according to data available with the Bangladesh Police Headquarters, around 1,997 road accidents occurred across the country during the January-September period of 2014 claiming 2,132 lives and causing critical injuries to 1,743.
A high official at the police headquarters said the scenario was worse in rural areas as many of the accidents occurring there were not reported to them.
However, former director of Accident Research Institute (ARI), under Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dr Shamsul Hoque, expressed his concern over quality of the BRTA certification process.
"I find no difference between certified fit vehicles and unfit ones as the procedure of examining fitness of vehicles by the BRTA remains faulty. So it makes virtually no difference whether a vehicles has fitness certificate or not," he added.
"We often notice that the height, width and length of many trucks are increased and these are given fitness certificates. On the other hand fitness certificates are given to many buses after changes in seating arrangement. Modification of vehicles is a violation of law, but those are getting clearance from the BRTA. So when it comes to the safety issue, there is no use of such certificates in real life," the expert said.
Mr Hoque, however, urged the government to take immediate measures to introduce an automated system in issuing fitness certificates and bring all the vehicles under its strict monitoring.  
"If the authorities concerned do not take immediate measures to bring the situation to a tolerable level, then it may go out of control in the years ahead."
However, the BRTA authority said the office could not take any measure to compel other vehicle-owners to take fitness clearance for want of manpower.
"We have only three magistrates and their six helping hands to run mobile courts. So we cannot do more against the practice. We have to depend on traffic department for the remedy," BRTA director Sudhanshu Shekhar Biswas told the FE.
He, however, expressed his hope that the scenario would change soon as the office had taken a number of initiatives to stop illegal issuance of fitness certificates.

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