Illegal easy bikes still roaming Ctg city

More than 2,000 illegal easy bikes are operating in Chittagong city, violating a recent ban and adding to traffic congestion and the risk of accidents.

Though the battery-run three-wheelers are seen in large numbers, police claimed that they were checking the vehicles' presence.

Introduced in 2012, the three-wheelers do not have the fitness certificate and route permit and are unregistered. These are imported from China, and each costs Tk 1.5 lakh locally.

The easy bikes, powered by electricity, mostly ply MA Aziz Road leading to the airport, the sea beach, Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone, Chittagong EPZ in the south. Some others operate on KB Aman Ali Road and in Chaktai-Khatunganj, Saltgola, and Halishahar areas.

"The vehicles often take passengers in the middle of the main road, coming in the way of the fast moving vehicles and resulting in long tailbacks," said Zahidul Islam, a bus driver.

In addition, the rickety vehicles often cause accidents. On August 9, locals set fire to two easy bikes in Kala Mia Bazar when a boy was badly injured after being hit by one.

According to the owners' associations and drivers, 2,000 easy bikes run across parts of the port city, with concentration of garment and other factories.

Mainly workers use them to commute regularly.

Drivers said 1,500 vehicles used MA Aziz Road alone, and of them 700 ran from CEPZ in the sea port area to the sea beach and on the back streets.

The government banned three-wheelers on highways on August 1 to prevent accidents, mainly occurring due to the movement of fast and slow moving vehicles on the same road.

Accordingly, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) banned easy bikes in the city, but they are still seen on the streets every day between 7:00am and 9:00am and after 5:00pm when garment workers rush to and from the workplace.

Shahidul Islam, traffic inspector of CMP's Patenga Zone, said whenever police see an easy bike, they seize it but some might escape their watch.

Driver Md Sarwar said they try to avoid police.

But he said, "Easy bikes are there because the government has let them import. We are poor people; if our vehicles run off the street, we would lose everything."

The ban worries passengers as well since few buses operate in the abovementioned areas.

Nazmul Hasan, a graduate student at Osman Gani MES College in GEC intersection area, said after enforcement of the ban, he sometimes had to wait for hours to board a vehicle from CEPZ area.