Rickshaws banned from Elephant Road to press club
Staff Correspondent
The traffic department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) yesterday banned all non-motorised vehicles including rickshaws, rickshaw vans and pushcarts from the stretch of Elephant Road to Jatiya Press Club via Shahbagh due to the upcoming Saarc summit. According to DMP sources, the non-motorised vehicles will not be allowed to ply the aforesaid streets from 8:00am to 10:00pm from now on. The DMP officials said the ban was imposed temporarily for the Saarc summit but the rickshaw-pullers apprehend it will be made permanent. Contacted, Syed Jahangir, an official of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), said he had no knowledge of the ban. The government has a plan to restrict the movement of rickshaws in some VIP roads to reduce traffic congestion. As part of that plan, the stretch of Mirpur Road from Kalabagan Crossing to Azimpur via New Market was made off limits to rickshaws last year. Besides, rickshaws were also banned in the stretch between Gabtali and Russell Square since December 20, 2002. There is a plan to ban rickshaws from the stretch of Progoti Sarani, Rampura to Mouchak, from Bangla Motor, New Eskaton Road, Moghbazar, Malibagh, Mouchak to Rampura and from Rokeya Sarani to Farmgate in phases, according to sources.
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