DRIVERS of battery-powered rickshaws enforced the blockade of roads in 11 important crossings in the capital city on November 21, which ranged from half an hour to eight hours at places, causing immense suffering to people. The drivers took to the streets for the second day to push for the demand that the authorities should allow the vehicles on the road. The protests began against the backdrop of the High Court鈥檚 having asked the government to stop battery-powered rickshaws from plying the city roads in three days. The protesters also blocked the railway at Mohakhali, suspending train communication between Dhaka and outlying areas for six hours from 10:00am. Ambulances carrying patients were allowed to pass by, but they also had a hard time because of the congestion that the blockade created. Clashes marked the protests on both days, between the law enforcers and the drivers and between students and drivers. Battery-powered rickshaws have come up as a phenomenon in the absence of lax oversight of the authorities ad they are now considered prone to accidents, considering the speed that they often clock in view of their mechanical structure.
Whilst a switch from pedalling to battery power has made rides easy for the driver, as it does not involve that much physical labour, and for the passengers, as it takes less travel time, it has also entailed some inconveniences. The rickshaws are said to be easy to develop cracked welds, bent axles and broken support beams. Such a situation leads to issues of safety, sustainability and regulation. Besides, most of the garages use electricity illegally for rickshaw battery charging, which adds to non-revenue power loss. It has earlier been reported that charging stations that such rickshaws use are not legal. And, the present situation involving battery-powered rickshaws has not evolved overnight. It is, rather, the result of long indifference of the authorities towards enforcement issues. The authorities should, therefore, stop such vehicles from running on at least the main roads in view of the risks, regulations and sustainability, but the government approach to take them off the road has been high-handed. As the authorities have allowed battery-powered rickshaws to grow as a phenomenon, making a large number of people dependent on the trade, they should first devise a rehabilitation plan and execute it before taking any drastic action against the rickshaws. Keeping them off main roads but allowing them on inner roads could be a good first step before a comprehensive phase-out plan is put to work to completely take them off the road or the vehicle structure is redesigned and enforcement issues are adequately attended to.
The government should, therefore, work out short-, mid- and long-term plans, put in place a rehabilitation process for the drivers and others dependent on the trade and, then, phase out the rickshaws or redesign them for sustainability and put them back on the road. No hurried action against the trade that has already set in would work sustainably.
