A total of 313 thousand vehicles all over the country are plying the roads without any fitness certification. In the capital city Dhaka alone there are 93,604 vehicles without any fitness certificates. In short, 33% of the vehicles have no fitness certification. This information was revealed in the records of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) till 25 October.
According to the law, there are at least 30 types of technical and physical tests that the vehicles need to pass for fitness certification. However, no equipment is used for the purpose. The vehicles are just examined by sight. The vehicles are supposed to be taken to the BRTA office to be examined and then certified. But there are complaints that most of the buses, trucks, and other public transport vehicles are issued fitness certificates without even being brought to the BRTA office.
It is against the law for vehicles to take to the streets without fitness certificates. The cars are to be seized immediately if found without this certification. BRTA officials say as the police are not active in this regard, the vehicle owners are also lax about getting the certificates.
The main conditions for fitness are: no change in original design, proper function of brakes and gears, proper lights, no emission of black exhaust, and proper paint.
However, a glance along the city streets reveals the actual picture. Three of the bus services from Mirpur are Bahon, Safety and Shikhar. Bahon's route is from Mirpur to Taltala, Khilgaon. Safety's route is Mirpur-Dhakeswari Mandir. And Shikhar's route is Mirpur-Jatrabari.
Around noon on Wednesday afternoon, three buses of these three transport services picked up passengers from the Mirpur-10 intersection. Patches of paint has come off the Safety and Shekhar buses. The little paint that was left was an eyesore. There were dents all over the chasses of the vehicles. The registration numbers were hardly legible. In the Bahon bus, the driver's window was broken and many of the passenger windows had to glass.
Not one of these three buses was qualified to receive fitness certificates. Yes all three buses had renewed and updated fitness certificates.
Leaders of the transport owners' association say that if the law is followed, then many such vehicles, including those three buses, will not be fined as they all have up-to-date fitness certificates. According to the association, a sweeping operation was launched against vehicles without fitness in Dhaka city just before the 2011 cricket world cup, but that was limited to fines.
After a few recent serious road accidents, on 28 October this year the road transport and bridges ministry submitted a letter to the cabinet division for a special drive against unfit vehicles, unlicensed drivers and makeshift 'Nasimon-Karimon' vehicles. The cabinet division sent letters to the divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners to start a driver from tomorrow, Monday, in this regard. BRTA magistrates will also carry out special drives in this regard.
MAN Siddique, road transport division secretary, has told Prothom Alo that this time the drive will be a success as the cabinet division and the home ministry has been involved. He said that the issuance of fitness certificates to unfit vehicles must be stopped.
There are 2,105,140 registered vehicles in the country. With the exclusion of motorcycles, 974,735 are required to have fitness certificates. About 33% of the vehicles are running without fitness certificates.
The number of vehicles in Dhaka is 835,812 of which 93,604 are without fitness.
Under the motor vehicles act, motorcycles are out of the fitness certificate purview. New cars are given fitness certificates for the first five years.
According to the highway police, during the three days of last Eid-ul-Azha, at least 15 vehicles broke down along at the Gazipur and Tangail section of the Dhaka-North Bengal highway. Unfit vehicles are at a higher risk of breaking down and these worsen the traffic jams.
Professor Shamsul Huq of Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET) says that the process of fitness certification is unscientific. These fitness certificates make very little difference. There are at least 800 thousand unregistered makeshift 'Nasimon' 'Karimon' 'Bhatbhat' vehicles that have neither fitness nor registration. This calls for an effective drive against vehicles without registration and fitness. Strict criteria should be maintained in issuing fitness certificates and equipment must be used for the purpose.