[sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city

[Rajendra Aryal]

Dear friends,

The issue raised by Mr. Sarkar is in fact very critical. I was in Dhaka in last
May and that was my trip to Dhaka after 14 years. The first time I went to Dhaka
was 1986 and I went there on a short mission as a student. Dhaka was a clean
city with a lot of rickshaws. The city has now tremendoulsy changed and it is
full of reconditioned cars. The traffic is terribly mixed and very often out of
control. The drivers have to drive and go ahead however and wherever they get a
way.

Rikshaws are pollution free, cheap mode of transportation and generating
employment to a lot of people. Looking at the numbers of rickshaws in
Bangladesh, one could imagine how many families are supported through rickshaws.
I would regret that the government wants to ban the rickshaws and instead wants
to fill the roads of Dhaka with all those reconditioned cars polluting the whole
city.

The traffic in Dhaka is very much mixed type. I observed something very
particular. At our office, I asked one of our project professionals why he needs
a car. His answer was simple: he has to send his children to school and it is
very risky to send it by a rickshaw. I was however not convinced with his
argument. We were travelling together on a road in the mid town and a car hit a
rickshaw just in front of my eyes thereby injuring the passanger badly as he was
thrown out of the rickshaw. The car driver was so reckless and seemed like there
exist no traffic rules for him.

Traffic jam is very common in the city and I experienced it a lot. However,
there should be some mechanism to keep the rickshaws on the roads of DHaka.
Banning would be a very critical decision. It it is implemented, we should urge
the international transport professionals supporting NMT to oppose it. There
could be some strategy to keep the existing NMTs and even promote them further.
But, looking at the present traffic conditions and the roads in Dhaka, having
separate lanes, etc. would not be that easy.

Regards.