Three-wheelers plying on Dhaka-Mymensingh route

The illegal operation of countless unregistered three-wheelers on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, defying a 2015 ban and a High Court directive, is causing frequent fatal accidents and traffic congestion.

These vehicles run in front of members of law enforcement agencies while they turn a blind eye to the rules violation, local sources alleged.

They said the owners and drivers of these vehicles, and a few officials of law enforcement agencies maintain a symbiotic relationship, making profits out of commuters’ misery.

Most of the drivers of these light-weight vehicles claimed that they provide a handsome amount of money, Tk 200 to Tk 2,200 on average, for members of law enforcement agencies on a regular basis to keep their vehicles running.

They said the ban did not become effective due to the culture of extortion by influential political elements and police, a lack of requisite facilities on highways, faulty designs of highways, and indifference of passengers.

Although accidents involving three-wheelers and these illegal vehicles on highways have increased the number of fatalities, none of the parties, such as drivers, police, or commuters, care much to change the situation, said locals residing near the highway, Dhaka Bypass, Tongi-Kaliganj road, Gazipur, and Mymensingh.

Popi, a ready-made garment worker, who regularly commutes on the highway, said: “There is a shortage of intercity buses on the road. Whenever I cannot find a bus, I have to take these three-wheelers, spending four times more than bus fares. The auto-rickshaw owners and drivers take advantage of our helplessness.”

Addressing the issue, three-wheeler drivers – Rubel from College Gate area, Ruhul Amin and Malek from Hariken area, and Mamunur Rashid from Station Road area – said three-wheelers are mandatory on the route as the number of buses is not enough for a large number of commuters.

However, they face regular harassment and penalties from law enforcement agencies, they alleged.

“They randomly challenge us on the highway and take Tk 500 to Tk 2,000 from us on a regular basis. We do not know if it is for a legal purpose or a bribe,” said driver Rubel.

Driver Mamunur, also an auto-rickshaw owner, told The Business Post he bought his vehicle for Tk 90,000.

“I had to pay Tk 2,000 to transport leaders at the beginning. Now I pay Tk 500 on a monthly basis and Tk 20 on a daily basis to different political and transport leaders, and I have to pay more if I go to other areas where other political influentials are active.”

When asked, Sergeant of Tongi Police Station under Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Md Forhad said they regularly identify these illegal vehicles and fine them, and the money directly goes to the government’s treasury.

However, this correspondent did not find any entries on the police’s penalty list despite seeing them taking money from several three-wheeler drivers.

Echoing his remarks, Officer-in-Charge of Mawna Highway police outpost Md Kamal Hossain told The Business Post the High Court on August 3, 2015, ordered the government and the police to keep unfit motor vehicles off the roads across the country.

“Complying with the directives, we conduct regular drives on the highway to stop the illegal vehicles. We also fine them up to Tk 2,200. Yet, they run.”

However, denying that the police take any money from these vehicles, Deputy Commissioner of GMP (Traffic) Abdullah Al Mamun told The Business Post, “Police officials regularly detain the drivers and impound their vehicles for up to 14 days to stop their operation on the road. However, policemen do not take any money in the form of fines from them.”

“We are doing everything in our power to stop these illegal vehicles, but they are paying no heed to us,” he added.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges imposed a ban on the movement of three-wheelers and non-motorised vehicles on 22 national highways on August 1, 2015.