At least 8,000 people, including a number of teenagers, have long been driving CNG and battery-run three-wheelers on the roads of 12 upazilas in Bogra without driver’s licences.
Risking lives, teenagers are driving these types of vehicles on Bogra roads and several highways, violating traffic rules, said town dwellers.
At least 4,000 out of the 7,000 CNG-run three-wheelers of the district town ply on the roads without any registration or valid documents, said official sources from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
An additional 1,500 battery-run three-wheelers, locally known as easy-bikes, are running in the district without registration.
Md Zeaur Rahman, BRTA assistant director (engineering) in Bogra, said the local administration has decided to soon launch several mobile courts in the district against illegal drivers and unregistered three-wheelers.
“According to field level reports, only 109 people hold genuine licences to drive CNG run three-wheelers in the district,” said Md, Zeaur Rahman.
Other sources at BRTA claim the number of teenage drivers in the district is not more than 1,000.
Md Asadur Rahman Dulu, president of the Bogra district unit of CNG-Run Auto-Rickshaw and Tempo Owners’ Association, acknowledged that most three-wheeler drivers are doing the job without driver’s licences or valid documents.
Md Lutful Bari Babu, convener of Battery-Run Auto-Rickshaw Owners’ Association in Bogra district, told the Dhaka Tribune that around 1,000 easy-bikes are operating in the district without valid documents.
BRTA officials said there is no scope to issue registration numbers, according to traffic rules, against easy-bikes.
Many people, like Md Shahin of Sirajganj and teenager Ruhul Amin of Bogra town, have been driving without training or licences.
BRTA and Bogra traffic police office sources said a huge number of three-wheelers, technically unfit “auto tempos,” have been moving around in the district without valid documents and competent drivers for a long time.
