Hunt for outdated vehicles from Sunday

The government is set to launch a crackdown on outdated vehicles from Sunday in a bid to reduce road crashes and environmental pollution.

The move comes about month after the government fixed the economic lifespan of buses and minibuses at 20 years, and goods-laden vehicles such as trucks and covered vans at 25 years.

As of May, 299,643 commercial vehicles -- including 85,198 buses and minibuses and 214,445 trucks, covered vans and tankers -- were registered with the BRTA.

Of them, 39,169 buses and minibuses and 41,140 trucks, covered vans and tankers are past their economic lifespan, according to BRTA data updated on July 16.

A significant number of the outdated vehicles are still operating, particularly in rural areas, said a BRTA official involved with the proceedings.

Against this backdrop, the BRTA on July 13 announced a nationwide drive starting July 20, which will continue day and night.

The operation will be jointly conducted by the BRTA, district administrations, police and transport owners' and workers' organisations, reads a letter signed by Hemayet Uddin, BRTA's deputy director for enforcement.

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Why are there still so many unfit vehicles?

Contacted, Hemayet said 17 mobile courts will carry out the drive-in divisional cities, including nine in the capital.

The BRTA has already issued letters to all police commissioners, deputy inspector generals, deputy commissioners and superintendents of police requesting them to conduct similar drives in their respective areas.

The vehicles seized during the drives will be dumped temporarily as the authorities have yet to finalise a guideline for scrapping outdated vehicles.

The BRTA has selected three locations for temporarily dumping the seized vehicles: the site of the Diabari cattle market, Purbachal Sector-13 and the Jhilmil Project area, according to Hemayet.

A draft scrapping guideline was prepared during the tenure of the previous government, said another BRTA official requesting anonymity.

But it had some shortcomings and has since been amended and sent to the ministry for further action.

It will take some more time as an inter-ministerial meeting needs to be held before the draft can be finalised, the official added.

Previously, many of the outdated vehicles returned to operation after a brief suspension.

For instance, in 2010, the BRTA banned buses over 20 years old and trucks over 25 years old from operating in the capital. However, many of these old vehicles shifted to inter-district highways instead.

A special committee formed by the National Road Safety Council in March 2019 recommended setting a maximum usable life for commercial vehicles to reduce road crashes and bring discipline to the transport sector.

In May 2023, the then government fixed the economic life of buses and minibuses at 20 years and trucks and covered vans at 25 years.

But following pressure from transport associations, the government backtracked from its decision and put the order on hold, allowing outdated vehicles to remain on the roads.

In a stakeholder meeting on October 24 last year, the government gave a six-month deadline -- until May 2024 -- to remove all such outdated vehicles from Dhaka.

Experts say old and unfit vehicles are a major cause of road accidents. In addition, older vehicles tend to emit more toxic gases due to incomplete fuel combustion, contributing significantly to air pollution.