A group of CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers on Sunday blocked the main road in front of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority office at Banani in Dhaka, crippling traffic for about six hours on the Uttara鈥揗ohakhali road and causing huge sufferings to the people.
The drivers, mostly from the outskirts of the city, demanded that they should be allowed to run on roads across the capital as they were not allowed to ply the roads in the capital.
Banani police officer-in-charge Russell Sarwar said that a group of CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers from outside Dhaka gathered in front of the BRTA office and blocked the road at about 12:30pm, halting vehicular movement on the Uttara鈥揗ohakhali road.
The protesters withdrew their blockade at about 6:30pm after a promise of talks with the BRTA authorities, brokered by the Army and police officials, a police official said.
A release that the Dhaka Metropolitan CNG Auto-Rickshaw Drivers鈥� Unity Council issued on the day, meanwhile, demanded that auto-rickshaws registered for the Dhaka metropolitan area should be allowed to run in the surrounding areas such as Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi.
The other demands include separate lanes on main roads for auto-rickshaws, immediate registration for 5,000 CNG run auto-rickshaw drivers that the government approved in 2007, the registration or approval of blue books for 15,000 CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers in Dhaka metropolitan area, no further increase in daily deposits, an end to driver鈥檚 harassment of 鈥榥o parking鈥� cases without ensuring proper parking facilities and the repeal of provisions in the Road Transport Act 2018 and the 2022 rules that go against the drivers.
