Legal and practical parameter of battery-run vehicles

In the face of protests waged by drivers of battery-run rickshaws in the capital, the ban on movement of such precariously built or modified vehicles announced on May 15 last has been lifted. The retraction by the authorities concerned has widespread and long-term ramifications for the regulation of traffic in the city and elsewhere in the country. This is not for the first time that a move with merit for managing traffic a little better has been thwarted in the face of violent protests. Transport workers, particularly those involved with operation of buses, have, on more than one occasion, forced the authorities to backtrack on well-advised measures taken to free the city's traffic from rampant anarchy and accidents. It happened in case of long-route and highway operation of buses also. Then there is the question of implementation of laws. The Road Transport Act 2018 even has provisions for stiffer fines and even capital punishment but even the violation of the common regulations are routinely overlooked and decisions taken revoked soon.

When the authorities concerned turn a blind eye to illegal and unregistered vehicles, it is just a matter of time before such transports proliferate. A development of this order puts the political administration in a dilemma. When a large number of otherwise unskilled people get involved in a livelihood without official approval, the political and humanitarian aspects come to the fore. This is exactly what might have prompted the prime minister to reconsider the operation of battery-run three-wheelers in the capital. It means the vehicles have earned the right to ply on roads in other cities and towns as well. Although the highways have been kept off-limit to such vehicles, there is hardly any guarantee the measure will hold. A number of  makeshift and tinkered contraptions called 'nosimon', 'korimon' on top of easy bikes have never complied with the official order.

But here was a chance of taking the battery-run vehicles off the road. In a mega city where, according to the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), the number of pedal rickshaws now stands at 1.5 million, the most unsafe and legally unapproved battery-run ones pose various threats. Their speed is not matched by their body shape and aerodynamics. The most significant issue here is rickshaws' movement in alleys and narrow roads mostly in residential areas and at a short distance. Unmanageable speed and precarious brake system make battery-run rickshaws completely unfit for plying in alleys and narrow roads, let alone the busy main roads of the city. This is why such vehicles failed to receive approval from the authorities concerned and the High Court made their operation illegal.

There is still time to withdraw such vehicles from road because the number of such vehicles, reports BILS, is 0.2 million. Under a rehabilitation programme, their drivers could be shifted to alternative livelihood options. The official retraction decision will encourage owners and pullers of pedal rickshaws to turn more and more of those into battery-run ones. At some point, their proliferation, like pedal rickshaws, will be unmanageable. Their organised power will be many times stronger and the authorities will be powerless to make them comply with rules and orders. It's a grim prospect for a capital city where vehicle speed in busy time has already come down below walking speed.