Illegal three-wheelers continue to ply highways across Chittagong despite a court ban, contributing to frequent road accidents and fatalities.
The unauthorised vehicles, including CNG-run auto-rickshaws, easy-bikes and battery-powered rickshaws, remain a growing safety concern on Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong-Khagrachhari and Chittagong-Rangamati highways, with weak enforcement allowing them to operate unchecked.
In October 2012, the High Court banned CNG-run auto-rickshaws from operating on highways. However, drivers and owners continue to violate the restrictions, allegedly paying regular extortion money with the support of influential quarters.
CNG-run auto-rickshaws, easy-bikes, tomtoms and battery-powered rickshaws are frequently seen on highways, posing risks to other road users.
Truck and bus drivers said accidents frequently occur while vehicles negotiate U-turns along the Mirsarai section of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. The absence of dedicated lanes for U-turns forces vehicles to manoeuvre dangerously, while the presence of slow-moving three-wheelers further increases the risk.
Md Nurul Alam, a resident of Mirsarai municipality, told Dhaka Tribune that accidents regularly occur at the U-turn near Mirsarai municipal market. He said prohibited three-wheelers often travel against traffic, leading to collisions.
Series of accidents
On September 5, two people were killed and three others seriously injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Chandanaish on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway.
On October 7, two more people were killed in a similar collision near Nayakhal Pathani Bridge in Satkania. An injured passenger was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
On October 9, three auto-rickshaw passengers were seriously injured in a head-on collision with a microbus in Patiya. Earlier, on February 27, one person was killed and seven others, including a child, were injured when an auto-rickshaw collided with a mini-truck in Adhunagar, Lohagara.
On March 28, six people were injured in a collision between an auto-rickshaw and a microbus near Modern Hospital in Sitakunda. On May 31, a multi-vehicle collision involving a bus, a drum truck, a microbus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Barabkunda Bazar, Sitakunda, left one person dead and 25 injured.
Thousands of unregistered vehicles
Titu Chowdhury, general secretary of the Chittagong Auto-Rickshaw and Auto-Tempo Owners Association, said the district has around 63,000 registered CNG-run auto-rickshaws, including 13,000 in the city and 50,000 elsewhere in the district.
He estimated that another 50,000 unregistered auto-rickshaws operate across the city and district, alongside several hundred thousand tomtoms, easy-bikes and battery-powered rickshaws.
Despite restrictions, authorities are failing to enforce the law effectively, he said, adding that the vehicles contribute to frequent highway accidents.
Mohammad Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the Passenger Welfare Association, said the lack of separate service lanes forces non-motorised vehicles to share lanes with buses. He blamed weak law enforcement for allowing illegal vehicles to operate unchecked.
Mohammad Shahjahan, joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Group, said bus drivers often bear the blame for highway accidents despite the presence of illegal three-wheelers.
Nurul Absar, officer-in-charge of Dohazari Highway Police Station, said many three-wheeler drivers lack proper training. He acknowledged that political pressure and the influence of powerful quarters prevent police from fully enforcing the highway restrictions.
