Rickshaw ban worries Dhaka commuters

Residents in the neighbourhoods from Merul Badda to Shahzadpur are worried over the banning of rickshaws on Pragati Sarani from Sunday, as they use rickshaws for their daily commute.

Faysal AtikObaidur Rahman, and Dipok Chandro Raybdnews24.com
Published : 5 July 2019, 05:58 AM
Updated : 5 July 2019, 05:58 AM

“They made the road off-limits to rickshaws without providing any substitute. This is what they always do to people. They did the same this time too -- without thinking how the people would travel,” said Habiba Akhter, a resident of Merul Badda.

The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority has banned rickshaws on the routes from Kuril to Sayedabad, Science Laboratory to Shahbagh and from Gabtali to Azimpur from Jul 7. Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Mohammed Sayeed Khokon announced the decision.

People living in those neighbourhoods are angered by the ban that provides no alternative. The rickshaw pullers are worried of losing their jobs.

Rickshaws should be banned from key roads in the city to reduce traffic congestion, but that is not the only solution, according to city planners.

The decision will add to the sufferings as well as to the expenditure of the city people, said the politicians and rights activists.

The road from Sayebad Janapath intersection to Kuril through Khilgaon, Malibagh, Rampura and Badda, is one of the two roads connecting the north and the south of the city.

Buses operated by Raida, Jabale Nur, Green Dhaka, Victor, Turag, Anabil, Akash, Salsabil, Pracheshta, Osim and BRTC run on this route.

Buses can be pressed into service as a substitute but the operators are often unwilling to cater to short-distance passengers.

Ashraful Alam, a resident of Badda Link Road, said he travels to Jamuna Future Park and Bashundhara City quite frequently. For him, travel will not be smooth anymore.

“Most of the buses running on this road do not allow in short-haul passengers and keep the doors closed. It’s not easy to hop on those buses with family,” he said.

It will be ‘hard’ for many others like Ashraful to travel when the rickshaws are banned.

Rickshaws were banned from Gabtali to Russel Square in 2002, from Russel Square to New Market in 2004. But it still runs on some parts of that road.

Some of the rickshaw pullers expressed their anxiety of losing the earnings if rickshaws are banned from Gabtali to Azimpur.

“We get more passengers in this stretch and will lose our income if we can’t work here,” Sohel Rana, a rickshaw-puller, told bdnews24.com.

Those going to shop in New Market will face the trouble too.

“We go to New Market for shopping or to run errands and usually by rickshaw. We’ll have to use heavy vehicles as substitute if the rickshaw is banned; but that is also not available,” Samrat, a resident of Lalbagh, told bdnews24.com.

Zakia Chowdhury, a student of Eden Mohila College suggested introducing separate lanes for rickshaws rather than banning them completely, as students use it more to travel.

She also mentioned the harassment for women to use the bus as a transport.

BANNING RICKSHAW IS NOT THE ‘SOLUTION’

Precise information on rickshaws in the city is hard to come by. There are 58,714 rickshaws registered with the Dhaka South City Corporation. On the other hand, Dhaka North City Corporation has 30,000 rickshaws registered with it.

At least 500,000 rickshaws run in the city and there are more than one million rickshaw drivers, said Abdul Quddus, general secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan Rickshaw-Van Workers Union.

There are 283,617 private cars in Dhaka, according to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority. These cars are one of the reasons behind traffic congestion in the capital, said Maruf Hasan, programme manager in WBB Trust, an organisation that works on urban environments.

At least 3.5 million trips are made on Dhaka streets a day with rickshaws accounting for 40 percent of them, he said citing a report.

The number of private cars will increase on the roads if the rickshaw is banned, Maruf said. The cars will be parked on the roads leaving less space for other vehicles to use, he added.

“A private car takes 2.5 times more space than a rickshaw. These private cars occupies a lot of space when parked on the streets while the rickshaw, being a public transport is always on the move.”

“Globally the environment friendly non-motorised vehicles are being promoted but it is the opposite in our country. Let them ban the private cars in some of the streets,” he said.

In 10 years, average traffic speed has dropped from 21 km/hour to 7 km/hour, only slightly above the average walking speed. Congestion in Dhaka eats up 3.2 million working hours per day, according to a World Bank report published in 2017.

The country is losing Tk 370 billion a year while wasting five million working hours per day, according to a report published by the Accident Research Institute at BUET in 2018. The ARI report said the average speed of vehicles dropped to 5 km per hour due to traffic congestion.

Traffic speed slowed further this year, said Prof Moazzem Hossain, a teacher at BUET. The traffic congestion increased in the city due to the construction projects, including the metro rail, he said.

It is ‘important’ to control the private cars beside the rickshaws to decrease traffic congestion in the city, according to the professor.

“Banning the rickshaw is not the only solution. We have mentioned some package plans at different times but the authorities pick up plans from those as they like. They never implement the entire package,” he said.

“Why do we see traffic jam in those roads where there is no rickshaw, if it is the only reason behind traffic congestion?” said Abdul Quddus, president of Dhaka Metropolitan Workers Union.

“The rickshaw ban is just eyewash for the people and will bring no benefit. Rather, it will cause suffering to thousands of the people by compelling them to use expensive transports,” he told bdnews24.com.

“Banning rickshaws could be an option only if there was enough public transport on the city roads,” CPB Central Committee Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said focusing on the sufferings of the people.

But Sirajul Islam, general secretary of the Shramik League, defended the authority’s decision to ban rickshaws on some roads.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government is worker-friendly. She must have taken the decision for everyone’s benefit.”

JSD President Hasanul Haq Inu said there should be enough alternative measures in place to beat traffic congestion, before the ban is enforced.