No dilapidated, discolored buses in Dhaka city after May

There will be no dilapidated and discoloured buses allowed on the city road after May said Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder.

Bus service companies in Dhaka city have promised to freshly paint 20% of their buses by April, he told Bangladesh First.

“They will repaint all their buses gradually,” he added.

Nur Mohammad Mazumder said that BRTA has already had a meeting with the owners of the buses that ply in the city corporation area.

BRTA has repeatedly told the owners to paint their old buses, but not all complied, he added.

The decision of the road transport regulating agency comes following Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader expressing dissatisfaction about the condition and appearance of many dilapidated buses seen plying the city streets.

“It is not that a discoloured bus means it is an unfit bus. There are lots of buses which are discoloured but they are fit because all the things including the engine are in good condition,” the BRTA chairman said

“Many times, the buses’ become discoloured because of the rubbing,” said Nur Mohammad Mazumder.

He said that some bus owners also use low-quality colours as a result they become discolored fast.

“Discoloured buses do not reflect the economic development that took place over the last decade. When foreigners see the discoloured bus in the city, they get the wrong idea,” he added.

“For this reason, we repeatedly requested the bus owners to paint their buses. We also launched a mobile court but these initiatives seem to be unfruitful,” said Nur Mohammad Mazumder.

He said that the number of discoloured buses has decreased.

But the BRTA has taken the initiative so that all the buses are painted, he added.

He said bus owners have sought time to paint their fleets.

“No dilapidated and discoloured buses will be plying on Dhaka after 31 May,” the BRTA chairman said.

“Bus owners also committed that they will pain 20% of their buses by the end of April. They will paint and fix all the dilapidated buses by May 31,” he added.

After May BRTA will do field-level visits to inspect the progress and take action against the discoloured and dilapidated buses, its chairman said.

Professor Hadiuzzaman of the Department of Civil Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said that making the bus owners to follow the instruction to paint discoloured buses can be challenging for BRTA.

He believes the number of unfit and dilapidated buses in the city is no less than 40%.

“When BRTA will not allow the dilapidated, discoloured and unfit bus, they will have to make sure that there is sufficient public transport in the city. Else public will suffer,” said Professor Hadiuzzaman.

“So, BRTA will have to have a comprehensive plan and take preparation keeping in mind the demand for public transport in the city,” said Professor Hadiuzzaman.

Environment minister for not allowing buses older than 20 years to play on city streets

In March, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury said that public transport including buses older than 20 years should be withdrawn from the city’s streets to control air pollution.

Adding that BRTA will send the list of such buses plying in the city by April 8 to the ministry, the minister said that the transport owner association will provide a plan to withdraw those old buses by 20 April.

The environment minister also said that there would be no compromise for the greater interest of the nation.

According to the BRTA, a total of 14,610 20-year-old buses and minibuses play in the city.

Of them, 8, 132 are buses and 6, 478 are minibus.

BRTA statistics state a total of 6,389 trucks, covered vans and tankers ply in the city whose lifespan is more than 25 years of old.

About the 20-year old vehicles, the BTRA chairman said that they have made a list and the bus owners have made a commitment to the environment minister that they will withdraw such buses from service.

BRTA provided the list of the 20-year-old buses to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Environment Ministry as well as the bus owners’ association, he added.

Professor Hadiuzzaman the initiative of the regulatory authority is undoubtedly good but BTRA will have to implement it.

He said that the vehicles whose economic life has already expired have been very harmful to the environment.

“Bus owners would benefit from the initiative because when the bus fare is fixed the bus owners estimate the economic life of a bus is 10 years. As a result, bus owners are getting 10 years of life extra. So, the bus owners should come forward to withdraw their buses whose economic life has expired,” he added.

“The government will have to make a scrapping policy so that these vehicles cannot come to the streets again. Otherwise, they will hit the street again,” said Professor Hadiuzzaman.