Five national highways will be brought under close monitoring to check the plying of two and three-wheelers including easy-bikes, deviating from an earlier decision to ban these vehicles in 2015.
The highways are Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Chattogram, Dhaka-Tangail, Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Sylhet.
Road safety Council in its 29th meeting on Tuesday took the decision, though the apex body of the road transport sector earlier declared to keep these vehicles suspended on major roads.
Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, who chaired the meeting, said in the context of reality of inadequate manpower in BRTA and Highway Police to execute this decision, the council has decided to focus on a few highways.
“The decision continues,”' he told the journalists when asked about the effectiveness of the decision while briefing after over three hours meeting.
However, the decision goes against a High Court direction delivered in August 2015, asking the government to keep unfit motor vehicles off the roads across the country to reduce traffic accidents.
Railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan, Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, Road Transport and Highways Division secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, railways ministry secretary Humayun Kabir, former shipping minister and Bangladesh Road Transport Worker’s Federation executive president Shajahan Khan, BRTA chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder and representatives of different transport organisations attended today’s meeting.
The road transport and bridges ministry imposed a ban on the movement of three-wheelers and non-motorised vehicles on 22 national highways.
The council also approved the road safety strategic action plan for 2022-2024 targeting to reduce road accidents by 25 per cent by 2024.
smunima@yahoo.com