Chittagong city authorities declared August 30 as the deadline to get battery-run rickshaws off the roads, following a High Court ruling banning the vehicles from city roads in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP), Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) and Chittagong district administration decided at a meeting yesterday to conduct drives across the city to halt the use of battery-run rickshaws in the port city from August 31, the day after the deadline comes into effect.
The owners and drivers of battery-run rickshaws in Chittagong city were told they could operate their vehicles on city roads only after removing the battery and electric motor.
Battery-run rickshaws caught after the August 30 deadline would be subject to confiscation of the battery and motor, and owners could face legal action, the meeting, held in the conference room of CMP headquarters, decided.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Engineer Mohammad Hasan of the Detective Branch at CMP, also the spokesman of CMP, told the Dhaka Tribune that owners and drivers of battery-run rickshaws would have to seek permission from the CCC to operate their vehicles in the city area after removing the batteries and motors by August 30.
“After a discussion on the HC directive and the harmful aspects of battery-run rickshaws, the authorities took the decision,” he added.
On August 5, the High Court imposed a ban on the operation of battery-run rickshaws on city roads in Dhaka and Chittagong, rejecting an appeal prayer of the owners and drivers, said Deputy Commissioner Faruk Ahmed of CMP Traffic Division (North Zone).