A group of owners and drivers of battery-run rickshaws on Wednesday demanded licence to ply in Dhaka city and a ban on battery-run auto-rickshaws.
At a press conference held at the National Press Club in the capital, they also urged the government to list the accurate number of battery-run vehicles in the city for reducing traffic congestion.
Under the banner of the 鈥楪reater Dhaka City Corporation battery-operated rickshaw and van owners鈥� drivers鈥� unity council鈥� they raised a 16-point charter of demand at the conference.
While presenting their demands, council general secretary Pradip Kumar Bhoumik alleged that the battery-run auto-rickshaws occupied the roads across the country in the absence of any guideline.
They alleged that neither the past Awami League regime nor the incumbent interim government took any initiative to produce any guideline for the battery-run vehicles.
He also alleged that daily a huge number of battery-operated auto-rickshaws and other vehicles, including mishuk, easy-bikes, nasimon and karimon, illegally entered Dhaka and caused huge traffic gridlock.
鈥楢 large number of unemployed people have found employment through these battery-operated auto-rickshaws,鈥� Pradip also said.
Their demands include鈥攁llowing only the paddle-run rickshaws turned into battery-run rickshaws to run commercially in Dhaka city; providing licence to these battery-run rickshaws; counting battery-run rickshaws running in the capital; recognising this as a social service profession; licence and training for these vehicle drivers; stopping production of battery-run auto-rickshaws; and fixing the number of drivers for these vehicles.
Council president Momtaz Uddin Majumdar urged the owners and drivers to form solidarity, emphasising that their voices and needs deserved to be heard and accepted.
Unity council leaders also demanded an immediate halt to police drives against battery-run rickshaws and vans in the capital, terming the actions 鈥榠nhumane, unjust and a violation of human rights鈥�.
The event was attended, among others, by council advisers Haji Mojibur Rahman Mojib and Haji Zainal Abedin Mamun, joint general secretary Zahirul Islam Masum, and deputy general secretary Abdul Barek.
