Shamiran Biswas

Although the government has taken various initiatives, battery-powered auto-rickshaws and easy bikes have become a thorn in the neck. Although the High Court has banned these vehicles, these vehicles are running with the connivance of the administration and local leaders.

Extortion syndicates have been formed due to the ban on these movements in Dhaka. About 200,000 battery-powered autorickshaws are plying in Keraniganj, Savar, Nawabganj and Doha upazilas of Dhaka. Garage owners are now under pressure because of the High Court's directive. These illegal rickshaws are plying with the help of local processions and leaders.

Besides, these vehicles are plying most of the streets of Dhaka including Jatrabari, Demra, Mohammadpur, Abdullahpur, Hazaribagh in the capital. There are complaints that these illegal vehicles are running on the fuel of local political leaders.

The rickshaw owners have to pay Maswara to the local police station every month. A symbolic token is issued from the exchange station. Besides, battery-powered rickshaws, vans and easybikes are roaming in most districts of the country. Numerous garages have been built in legal and illegal ways to charge these vehicles.

A large portion of electricity is consumed every day by these vehicles. However, even if the wastage of electricity increases, there is no action to stop it. Along with Bogra city, according to City Corporation, Khulna, Rajshahi metropolis and the same situation across the country including Barisal, Sylhet, Rangpur, Tangail, Laxmipur, Satkhira, Pabna. Experts believe that if these unauthorized vehicles are stopped, a large part of electricity wastage can be saved. BUET's research on these battery-powered vehicles shows that in the country, more than 1 million battery-powered vehicles are consuming at least 1,000 megawatts of electricity per day.

If the government wants to encourage battery-powered rickshaws and auto-rickshaws to be legalized in the country, then whose interest is it that their movement has been made legally illegal today? Where are the barriers to legalizing battery-powered autorickshaws? The government has taken the initiative to legalize the electric vehicles running illegally across the country under a rule. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has prepared a draft policy for this. It is said that if you want to drive an electric vehicle, you have to take registration from BRTA; Must have fitness certificate, tax token.

Information from various non-governmental organizations is that the number of easybikes is more than 11 lakh. There are some other battery powered transports of newer models including battery powered rickshaws. Easybikes alone have been imported for more than 1 million. In total, the number of three-wheelers in Dhaka is about 14 lakhs. The Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources informed the Parliament last February that there are currently 4 million battery-powered easy bikes and auto-rickshaws across the country.

In Dhaka, this number is more than 12 lakh. Out of this, 10 lakh rickshaws and 2 lakh easy bikes. The Road Transport Authority (BRTA) does not register easybikes and battery-powered three-wheelers. The process of issuing registration and fitness certificate and tax token and route permit for electric vehicles will be the same as for engine powered vehicles. Electric vehicles on hire must obtain a route permit from the Regional Transport Committee.

Which is none of this easybike and autorickshaw! Those concerned say that 30 megawatts of electricity will be needed every day if legalized. Their design and fitness were tested and found to be risky, so registration and route permits were not granted. A little jolt will turn it over. Battery-powered three-wheelers account for at least 15 percent of accidents. Auto drivers are braking at any time. As a result, traffic congestion is also increasing. These rickshaws are running smoothly without any license.

The major problem of battery-powered rickshaw pollution is that the battery-powered vehicles that are running now are lead acid batteries, which are extremely harmful to the environment. It is said that these will end by 2025 and all such vehicles will switch to lithium-ion battery technology and then these transports will become environmentally friendly. And the alarming news is that expired batteries are thrown away everywhere.

Batteries are made with some toxic metals, including nickel, cadmium, mercury, and lead, which are very harmful to the environment and health. According to a study, expired batteries are also one of the causes of global warming. Batteries also affect soil ecology, polluting the air in various ways through photochemical smog. Photochemical smog is caused by the interaction of sunlight and these expired batteries, which is harmful to plants, animals and birds in addition to human health.

These batteries operated rickshaws and easybikes are causing unimaginable havoc to public health and environment without people noticing. The cost is low, so people are using it but no one is thinking about the results. Lead used in batteries is not destroyed but remains in nature. Some companies employ children and poor people to break dead batteries of these rickshaws to extract lead - whose owners cannot be traced.

Workers dismantled the battery and used water to clean the lead inside. That water spreads in rivers and canals, canals and agricultural land and pollutes water and soil. Lead enters the body of fish growing in these polluted water bodies. Again, if leaded water is used for agricultural purposes, lead particles enter the human body and the body of animals and birds through the food cycle. Each battery-powered vehicle “adds at least 300 kg of lead to the environment” per year “that's 12 billion kg of lead added by 4 million vehicles over 10 years.

Battery-powered rickshaws and autorickshaws, a danger signal for the people and the future government! Battery-powered rickshaws cause unimaginable harm to health and the environment, say experts. Before carrying out a crackdown on illegal battery-operated autorickshaws, experts have urged rehabilitation of the victims. The government should make a law as soon as possible and implement the law by stopping the battery-powered rickshaws and autorickshaws and helping the drivers to use solar-powered rickshaws and autorickshaws technology, otherwise the people of the country and the government will face a lot of trouble.

The writer is a, Agriculture & Environment Specialist, Dhaka.