Most Unfit Vehicles off The Roads
Pankaj Karmakar 
A
worker of a garage giving a rundown bus a fresh coat of paint at
Matuail in Dhaka on Wednesday. Old unfit buses are being made to look
good so that mobile courts do not stop and fine them for not being fit
for roads. Photo: Amran Hossain
Dhaka district administration and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority mobile courts have fined around 400 unfit vehicles Tk 5.18 lakh between Monday and Thursday last week.
This has awakened the transport owners who run unfit vehicles almost unabated throughout the year. They are now hurriedly repairing their vehicles.
At different workshops and garages in the capital during the last two days, workers were seen busy welding, giving buses a fresh coat of paint, replacing shattered windows, broken indicator lenses and headlights, and refurbishing the interiors.
"At least eight to 10 buses have come to our garage in last two days. Additionally, many bus owners have requested us over the phone to go to their garages for repairs to their vehicles," said Mohammed Salam, a worker of Mayer Doa Workshop at Matuail in Dhaka, on Wednesday.
Over fifty workshops and garages are located in the area and talking with mechanics of over a dozen garages there, it had become apparent they were having a very busy time since Monday.
"This bus came in yesterday [Tuesday]. The owners have asked us to quickly repair it because they would not run the bus until the repairs are done," said mechanic Masud of Al-Fallah garage.
"Our workload has been increased over the last three days. We used to paint about two buses a day. Now, we are painting at least five," said Kabir Miah, who was painting a bus at Box Nagar area near Dhaka Zoo.
Around 20 buses were lined up on the road in front of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday afternoon. Workers were painting them, changing windowpanes, replacing wheels and repairing engines.
"This bus has all necessary documents. But its colour was faded and a few indicating lenses were broken. The owner wants to get these faults repaired due to the government's drive," mechanic Solaiman, who was working on one of the buses, told The Daily Star.
Many trucks were seen getting repaired on roads near Gabtoli cattle market in the capital.
"After the drive started, most truck owners have been repairing their vehicles," said Mostafizur Rahman, a truck owner.
Talking to The Daily Star, Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Samity Secretary General Khandaker Enayetullah said, "Before the drive started, we held two meetings with our members and directed them to repair their vehicles."
"Many bus owners are repairing their vehicles and they will operate those after making them fit," he added.
When there is no government drive, unfit vehicles ply the roads with hardly any monitoring by law enforcers; pickups top the list of such faulty vehicles, sources said.
Through an unholy nexus between the owners of unfit vehicles, and some law enforcers and BRTA officials, the vehicles ply in and outside the capital round the year.
This is one of the key reasons for accidents.
However, the BRTA seems to be content with raising awareness rather than making sure that no unfit vehicle runs on the roads.
BRTA Chairman Nazrul Islam told The Daily Star, "We have come to know that transport operators are repairing their vehicles because the awareness has been created after the drive. It is a positive sign."
Currently, more than 21 lakhs vehicle are registered with the BRTA. Of them, over 93,000 ply the streets of Dhaka.
