The owners of battery-run auto-rickshaws yesterday gave 48-hour ultimatum to the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor M Monjur Alam to resign from his post.
Under the banner of “Chittagong Rickshaw and Battery-run Rickshaw Malik Sangram Parishad,” they staged a demonstration and hold a press conference at the Chittagong Press Club.
President of the parishad Abdul Quader Majumder said they would besiege the CCC Office on September 3 if their seven-point demands were not met by next 48 hours.
“The battery-run auto-rickshaws were banned without holding any prior meeting us. We would be compelled to go for tougher programmes like hunger strikes and calling general strike if our demands are not fulfilled,” he said.
The seven-point demands include providing license to the battery-run rickshaw-owners who filed petitions with the High Court, seeking expert opinion from Buet regarding the batter-run rickshaws, providing driving licenses free of cost, ban CNG-run auto-rickshaws and tempo to ease traffic congestion.
Around one lakh battery-run rickshaws are currently plying on the streets of Chittagong under 13 different associations. Apart from these, 70,000 manual rickshaws licensed under CCC ply the city roads.
The owners and drivers of battery-run rickshaws were instructed to remove batteries and motors from their vehicles within August 30 following High Court's latest order.
According to a meeting held on August 25 among Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP), Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Chittagong City Corporation and Chittagong district administration, an eviction drive against battery-run auto-rickshaws in Chittagong starts from today.
Any battery-run auto-rickshaw found plying after the deadline would be seized and legal actions would be taken, the authorities instructed.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Faruk Ahmed of CMP Traffic Division (North Zone) said: “Law enforcers including traffic inspectors and sergeants would remain deployed at 26 points in the city while 10 trucks will be there to carry the illegal rickshaws.”
Seized rickshaws and batteries would be dumped into dumping stations nearby police stations, he added.
A very few number of battery-run auto-rickshaws were seen plying on the streets in the port city yesterday.
