Despite authorities initiatives to control vehicles, unfit and unregistered vehicles proceed to dominate the streets of Dhaka, elevating avenue safety concerns and the chance of accidents.
Officials stated authorities cling the ability to act easiest towards registered vehicles that lack health clearance. But, thousands of unregistered vehicles, operating with out undergoing critical health assessments, remain unchecked, contributing to site visitors casualties and chaos.
A talk over with to varied routes by a UNB correspondent and conversations with site visitors police made this troubling scenario obvious.
Laws enforcement officials admitted their helplessness in addressing the difficulty, as many commercially operated vehicles bypass the specified health procedures.
“Submitting cases by myself is now not fixing the discipline,” site visitors police officers remarked, together with that vehicle householders and operators in most cases exploit loopholes to proceed their operations.
In a converse to curb the possibility, the Police Headquarters issued a directive on 29 April, instructing all discipline-level units now not to allow unfit vehicles on the roads. But, the bottom truth tells a diversified tale.
Authorities records finds that as of 15 April this twelve months, some 6.17 lakh vehicles failed to endure the critical health assessments.
Abdur Rahim, a usual passenger of a bus named ‘Enticing’ that operates between the Signboard and Aminbazar areas, stated, “The operators don’t care about health because of they imagine it can maybe even be managed anyway.”
Mohammad Hridoy, a non-public vehicle driver, outlined that while health certificates wants to be renewed yearly, householders in most cases delegate the duty to third parties attributable to the perceived problem.
Jamiruddin, a driver, candidly stated that they prepare to avoid health regulations on the avenue.
A accountability sergeant, requesting anonymity, admitted that compromises are in most cases made to form proceed that the tender drift of vehicles. “It is authorized records how the transport sector operates,” he stated.
Khondaker Nazmul Hassan, extra commissioner of DMP Traffic, emphasised their dedication to guaranteeing vehicle health.
“Within the final three months, now we cling filed 23,000 cases for the absence of health certificates. Commercially operated vehicles are more likely to lack health when compared with non-public autos,” he stated.
He added that the authorities are actively controlling the difficulty via usual checks and impounding unfit vehicles.
“We now cling impounded more vehicles than our ability, specifically these over Twenty years feeble. Some vehicles were returned to their householders after due assignment, nonetheless they deserve to follow health requirements sooner than operating all all over again,” he stated.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) mandates annual health checks and certificates renewals for all vehicles. Working with out a sound health certificates is a punishable offence that can lead to fines and imprisonment.
Stakeholders, nevertheless, cling raised concerns about BRTA’s ability to tackle the difficulty successfully, citing manpower shortages.
Bus operators stated that 75 companies slide 3,974 buses in Dhaka, while 120 operators oversee higher than 5,000 buses nationwide.
A non-public vehicle proprietor with a vehicle between 1501cc and 2000cc must now pay Tk 50,000 as Reach Income Tax (AIT), up from the outdated Tk 30,000, apart from to to the costs of obtaining health clearance.
The consequences of unfit vehicles are dire, as the fee of avenue accidents continues to climb.
BRTA statistics point out 4,153 deaths from 4,494 crashes nationwide between January and September this twelve months, when compared with 4,016 deaths from 3,727 crashes in the end of the same duration final twelve months.
The Road Security Basis reported 5,598 fatalities in 5,485 crashes, while Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity recorded 4,745 deaths in 4,620 crashes in the end of the same timeframe.
With rising casualties and declining health compliance, specialists and officials agree that addressing this disaster requires stronger enforcement, higher assets for BRTA and accountability across the transport sector.
