Shawdesh Desk:

The number of road accidents has increased in the capital and elsewhere in the country in recent times, claiming lives of many people every day.

Battery-run easy-bikes and rickshaws, Nosimon, Karimon, Bhatvoti and even motorbikes are largely responsible for frequent road accidents, police and transport leaders said.

The vehicles run on highways, paying monthly ‘token’ money to some political leaders and policemen, transport workers have alleged.

The transport and bridges minister has recently said the number of deaths in road accidents was increasing due to the plying of the unauthorised three-wheelers on highways.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has banned the plying of battery-run three-wheeler vehicles, easy-bikes on the highways in the country.

They will be, however, allowed on other roads as long as they are legal, according to the order issued by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique on Monday.

It said that the around 4 million easy bikes operating in the country charge their batteries through illegal power connections and that they were imported from China without Bangladesh Road Transport Authority’s clearance.

The government is also losing a huge amount of revenue as it does not get money from battery-run three-wheelers, the petition argued.

Meanwhile, at least 589 people were killed and 647 others injured in 458 road accidents across the country in March, Road Safety Foundation said on Monday. Of the deceased, 61 were women and 96 were children.

Road Safety Foundation collected the data based on reports published in seven national dailies, five online news portals and electronic media.

Besides this, at least 19 people were killed in five waterways accidents, while 17 were killed and eight injured in eleven train accidents.

A total of 221 people were killed in 176 motorcycle accidents in March, the report said, adding that 162 pedestrians were killed while 73 drivers and their assistants were killed during this period.

On an average, 19 people were killed in road accidents every day in March.

In February, 16.75 people were killed every day on an average. So, the death toll in March increased by 13.43 percent compared to February.

In the capital, such illegal rickshaws are now operative in many areas of the capital, including Mohakhali, Wireless Gate, Mughda, Maniknagar, Mirpur, Khilgaon, Bashabo, Chairman Bari, Tajmohol Road and Bongshal.

These rickshaw operators pay bribes to local police and operate, mostly in the alleys and by-lanes of the residential areas.

Sajjad Hossain, a rickshaw operator, who runs his own rickshaw in residential area of Wireless Gate of Mohakhali, said: “I pay Tk 1,400 per month to police so that I can run my rickshaw. I usually ferry passengers up to Banani Bridge. If I go past that, the police will seize my rickshaw,” he said.

He said around 140–150 battery-run rickshaws run in this area.

Visiting Dhaka South City Corporation areas, including Kamrangirchar, Lalbagh, Islambagh, Gendaria, Demra and Konapara, this correspondent found a huge number of battery-run rickshaws plying here and there. Drivers said it is not too difficult to evade the authorities.

“Whenever we see police, we flee or divert our direction. If we get caught, they charge us Tk 1,200 as wrecker fee,” said Sajib. The actual number of such vehicles is hard to approximate, but DSCC officials estimated it to be somewhere around 30,000-40,000.

In July 3, 2014, the High Court banned plying of mechanised and battery-run rickshaws as the vehicles are being run without any licences.

The joint commissioner of the DMP’s North Traffic Zone said ahead of Eid many regular and many unauthorised battery-run rickshaws come to the capital from its outskirts.“These rickshaws might also try to make a comeback more because of Eid. We will take steps against those,” he promised.

Battery-run rickshaws and vans are locally assembled and modified which are considered risky and cause many accidents.

These vehicles lack proper braking system-only the front wheel has brakes. Therefore, these vehicles frequently overturned while trying to stop due to their unmanageable speed.

Meanwhile, two people were killed in two separate road accidents in Rampura and Gulshan areas of the capital on Monday.

The deceased were Sadman Sakib, 31, son of Johurul Haque, of Bogura Sadar upazila, and Abdul Latif, 48, of Bishwanathpur village under Pakundia upazila of Kishoreganj district.

Sadman lived in Khilkhet Lake City area while Latif resided in Gulshan Norda with his family.

Police said a covered van hit Sadman while he was crossing a road in front of Rampura TV centre around 5:00am.

Later, the covered van driver took Sadman to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the on-duty doctor declared him dead.

Police detained the covered van driver with his vehicle.

Meanwhile, a pick-up van, carrying Latif, hit a roadside divider in Gulshan-2 area on Monday, leaving him severely injured.

He was rushed to Evercare Hospital and later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

On arrival, he was declared dead, said DMCH police out-post in-charge Bachchu Miah.

On Tuesday, a woman was killed and her two schoolgirls were injured when a speedy bus hit their rickshaw from behind in Mirpur area of the capital.

The tragic accident occurred around 12noon when they were on the way to their school.

The ill-fated woman was identified as Sabina Yasmin (31), wife of Rafiqul Islam.

On Friday, North South University student Maisha Mumtaz Mim lost life when a covered-van hit her scooter on Kuril flyover in the capital.

She met her tragic death when she was passing there by driving scooter. Her bloodstained body was found lying on the fly-over, police said.

On Wednesday night, three people, including a Chhatra League leader, were killed as a vehicle hit their motorcycle at Nawabganj upazila of Dinajpur.

The deceased were Rimon Islam, 22, son of Rabiul Islam, Sabbir Hossain, 23, son of Jahidul Islam, and Kibria, 30, son of Yasin Ali. Kibria was the joint convenor of Bonodnagar Union unit BCL.

On Sunday, three people, including driver of an easy-bike, were killed and five others injured when a passenger bus hit them in Magura on Sunday.

The accident took place near Palli Bidyut substation office in Kanutia area of Magura-Mohammadpur road around 1:30pm.

The deceased were identified as Rabbi, 30, son of Abdur Salam of Aunara area in Digha union of Mohammadpur upazila, Jasim Uddin Mandal, 26, son of Abdur Rashid Mandal of Babanpara area of Binodpur union of the same upazila and Nirmal Biswas, 60, of Bethulia village of Binodpur union.