Three-wheelers choke city streets

More than 24,000 rickshaws and auto-rickshaws wiggle between the narrow roads of Mymensingh city without registration and clog the busy thoroughfares, thereby causing immense sufferings to people.

According to official data, the city population was 250,000 in 2011. Only 5,000 rickshaws and auto-rickshaws used to ply the city streets then.

The city population rose to 850, 000 by 2021 while the number of three-wheelers shot up to over 24,000.

Now the traffic congestion is one the biggest problems for the city life.

Abdul Quader Chowdhury, Mymensingh unit president of Nirapad Sarak Chai, said traffic movement on the road is very slow due to auto-rickshaws on every street in the city.

The authorities have taken steps at different times to deal with the traffic jam but to no avail.

In 1997, automated digital traffic lights were installed at seven intersections in the city. The lights remained operational for the first few years but later it went dysfunctional.

A town bus service was introduced in 2009 to reduce traffic jam and make public transport more effective, but after a few days, the service was discontinued.

In 2015, battery–run rickshaws were brought under registration, which did not benefit at all.

Traffic Inspector Syed Mahbubur Rahman said it is very difficult to handle the pressure of so many vehicles with 109 traffic policemen at 18 points.

New roads have not been built nor have the old roads been widened in the metropolis in the last few decades.

The pressure of pedestrians and vehicles is increasing every year. On the other hand, bus stoppage and road encroachment are resulting in heavy traffic inside the city, he added.

Mymensingh Superintendent of Police Ahmar Uzzaman said the number of three-wheelers must be kept under control to get rid of traffic jam.

The city Mayor Ikramul Haque Titu claimed that three-wheeler routes in the metropolis had been divided on the basis of registration numbers and colours.