Shawdesh Desk: The government has decided to ban rickshaws on three major city roads beginning today without mulling any rehabilitation programme for rickshaw pullers and alternative vehicles for passengers.

The sudden decision to ban rickshaws on three roads — one from Kuril to Sayedabad via Rampura and Khilgaon, another from Gabtoli to Azimpur via Asad Gate and the other from the Science Laboratory crossing to the Shahbagh crossing — worries city passengers as well as rickshaw pullers as it would hamper their daily life and livelihoods.

Dhaka North City mayor Md Atiqul Islam, however, claimed that the ban would neither hamper the livelihood of rickshaw pullers, nor affect the passengers as rickshaws would be allowed on other roads and passengers could avail public buses as an alternative.

He said that the city would be free from rickshaws gradually as the non-motorised vehicles would not be allowed alongside motorised vehicles in the densely populated capital city.

Urban planners, however, criticised the decision saying presence of rickshaws was not the main cause of traffic jam in Dhaka while parking on the roads and rising number of private cars were major causes behind traffic jams.

Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust programme manager Maruf Hossain said that the government should ban private car first as it polluted the environment and created traffic jam by taking up too much space.

He said that globally non-motorised vehicles were now being encouraged as opposed to motorised vehicles over environmental concern.

He said that the number of private car would increase after banning rickshaw as this non-motorised vehicle met 40 per cent of the total three crore trips in Dhaka.

On Wednesday, Dhaka South City mayor Mohamamd Sayeed Khokon announced that rickshaws will not be allowed on three major roads to reduce traffic jam in the city.

The Dhaka South City Corporation, the Dhaka North City Corporation and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police would together begin a weeklong drive to keep rickshaws off the roads and other unauthorised vehicles and to evict the footpath grabbers to facilitate smooth traffic flow in the city.

Besides the three major roads, some more roads, including Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Kakrail Road, Here Road and roads at Gulshan and Banani would be off limits to rickshaws.

Abdul Aziz, a resident of Badda, who used to travel to his business house at Jamuna Future Park by rickshaw, said that at least five company buses run on the DIT road, but none allowed him for short distance travel.

He was worried how he would travel five kilometres if the government ban rickshaws on the road.

Rickshaw puller Hannan Sarder said that he used to pull rickshaw for last 20 years in the Malibagh area and maintained his nine-member family.

‘If I cannot pull rickshaw my family members will go without food,’ he said.

Dhaka North City mayor Md Atiqul Islam said that they were not banning rickshaws from the city but to control rickshaw movement on primary roads to reduce traffic jam.

He said that the number of city buses would be increased gradually.

He urged the people for cooperation as he would soon launch drives to free footpaths for walking.

According to rickshaw owners’ associations there were 10-12 lakhs rickshaws in the city but the city corporation officials claimed that most of the rickshaws were illegal.

Officials said that the undivided city corporation provided licences to 79,554 rickshaws and 7,807 rickshaw-vans.

Left-lenient organisations protested the decision and demanded rehabilitation of rickshaw pullers and alternative vehicles for passengers before such drastic a move.