Rights group seeks update on one month's actions

A passenger rights group on Thursday sought to know an update of actions taken so far as the government declared to phase out outdated and unfit buses and other types of vehicles, aged 20 to 25 years, from streets to reduce air pollution and road accidents.

The Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh (PWAB) has asked for information about the achievements of the one-month timeline set by the Road Transport Adviser in this regard.

Last month, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said it would remove some 14,000 buses and trucks from the city streets, which exceeded their lifespan and are considered unfit.

The economic lifespan of a bus is 20 years, and for a truck it is 25 years, according to the BRTA.

The BRTA has taken the decision following a request forwarded by the environment ministry that said the old and unfit buses and other vehicles were causing serious environment pollution.

Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of the association, has sent a letter to BRTA Chairman Md Yasin requesting to sum up the successes and failures of the regulatory body BRTA during this period, according to a statement of the association.

Referring to a directive of the interim government's road transport and bridges adviser, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, the association said that action would be taken against BRTA if the situation did not improve.

Mr Khan at an event in Dhaka gave BRTA a one month's time to reduce traffic congestion in the city, stop emission of black smoke from vehicles and operation of unfit vehicles, stop illegal parking, send a proposal to the Ministry of Education to start school buses, remove 20-year-old buses, and so on-according to the statement.

It demanded the names and list of how many routes across the country, including the capital, have been able to establish traffic order, progress in providing fitness-how many unfit vehicles there are in the capital and across the country, how many vehicles have been able to be evacuated during this time, as accurate statistics on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis are needed.

To determine what is the progress in issuing drivers' licenses, statistics for the past one year from the date of application are needed to analyse the comparative picture of license distribution in the capital Dhaka and across the country.

It also demanded a list of vehicles emitting black smoke in the capital and across the country and statistics of one year are needed to take action, vehicle-based statistics of the next one year are needed to analyse the picture of taking action against unfit vehicles.

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