Auto-rickshaw drivers protest ban, block several roads in Dhaka

Drivers and owners of battery-run autorickshaws have blocked several roads in Dhaka’s Mohakhali, Agargaon, Mirpur-10, Mirpur-1, and Kalshi areas, protesting the government's plan to ban these vehicles.

Traffic movement is being disrupted in these areas due to the blockade resulting in massive gridlocks, according to local media reports.

They have taken to the streets in Mirpur to protest the recent police operation to remove them from the roads in the capital.

Jashim Uddin, deputy commissioner of the Mirpur Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s traffic police, said the drivers of battery-run rickshaws and those involved with them blocked the Mirpur-10 square around 10:00 am on Sunday. Many of the protesters carried sticks in their hands.

Jashim said the battery-run rickshaw drivers had gathered in Kalshi and other parts of the capital in the morning. He claimed they also assaulted drivers of pedal rickshaws and attacked some buses.

They then gathered at the Mirpur-10 square, he said.

An organisation called the Rickshaw, Battery Rickshaw-Van, and Easybike Sangram Parishad announced they would be holding a rally and protest march at the Jatiya Press Club on Monday to demand the withdrawal of the government’s order to remove the vehicles from the road.

The demonstration will start at 10:30 am and push for a list of seven demands, including the removal of the ban, registration of battery-run vehicles, route permits, and licenses, according to Roksana Afroz Asha, the finance secretary of the organisation’s Dhaka Metropolitan branch.

On Wednesday, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader ordered the Advisory Council of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to ban battery-run rickshaws on Dhaka city.