CNG autos defy ban on highway

Illegal, slow and locally- and foreign-made three-wheelers and CNG-run auto-rickshaws plied the highways across the country yesterday, defying a government ban.

These vehicles are often the causes of fatal accidents on highways.

As road crashes continued to claim lives on the highways after Eid-ul-Fitr, the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry on July 27  issued a circular, imposing the embargo, which went into effect yesterday.

But the government's move to get these dangerously slow vehicles off the highways had little or no effect. On several occasions in the past, the government decided to stop the movement of such vehicles but could not implement the ban.

Our correspondents from different districts reported that a good number of CNG-run auto-rickshaws, illegal battery-run easy bikes, Nosimon, Korimon and Bhotbhoti plied highways throughout the day yesterday.

Selim Hossain, who drives an easy bike on Natore-Rajshahi highway, told our Natore correspondent, “I have no alternative to earn. I ran my vehicle today [yesterday] and tried to avoid getting caught by highway police.”

Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary MAN Siddique said some of these vehicles plied the highways yesterday as it was the first day of the ban. “We hope that the movement of these vehicles on the highways will surely be stopped gradually,” he told The Daily Star.

“We have directed all divisional commissioners, DIGs, DCs and SPs to take necessary measures to check the operation of these vehicles,” Siddique added.

Police and executive magistrates yesterday conducted drives at different points on highways to stop the movement of the vehicles.

Protesting the ban, transport workers and operators yesterday blocked two major highways, creating long tailbacks.

Vehicular movement was halted on Dhaka-Chittagong highway for around 20 minutes as auto-rickshaw drivers and owners formed human chains and staged demonstrations at Kanchpur, Madanpur, Shimrail and Mograpara intersection in Narayanganj, report our correspondents.

Auto-rickshaw drivers and owners put barricade at Bawshiya point in Gazaria of Munshiganj for one hour from 11:00am, causing a long tailback on Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

Besides, auto-rickshaw drivers and owners blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Pachdona and Nilkhuthi in Narsingdi for around one hour from 4:00pm.