Improvised vehicles on the rise

It is extremely disturbing to see ramshackle, odd-looking contraptions namely Nosimon-Korimon and Bhotbhoti gleefully plying on the country's roads. According to a report in this newspaper last year, the High Court ordered the government to withdraw them from highways in 10 districts.

These makeshift vehicles are unsafe and deadly.  They do not have any certificate of fitness issued by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority nor are they registered under Section 32 of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983. No wonder a number of people die or are injured in accidents involving these illegal vehicles. 

Why has not the BRTA acted on the HC order? It should have exercised its remit against such illegally operated vehicles  before the matter became unwieldy. The owners and drivers of these unauthorised vehicles evidently take advantage of lack of required number of public transports. They may be exploiting a local demand but that cannot be an excuse for allowing these accident-prone jalopies to drive on roads and highways unregulated. Did the government issue any orders or directives to solve this problem?  The traffic personnel are no less to be blamed for allowing these apologies of vehicles to swarm the roads and highways unchecked.

With Eid al-Fitr just days away and a large number of people preparing to go home, the government must act fast to either ban these vehicles right away or start phasing them out on the basis of the degree of their fragility to ensure safe journey for the commuters.