Battery-run rickshaws to stay off Ctg streets from Monday

Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) today announced a ban on battery-run rickshaws on the streets of the port city from Monday.“No battery-run rickshaws will be allowed to ply from Monday,” a CMP spokesman told newsmen conveying the decision of a meeting of the metropolitan police commissioner Abdul Jalil Mondol with officials of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and representatives of Riackshaw Drivers and Owners’ Association.He, however, added that the ban was not the outcome of any abrupt decision and rather the enforcement of a previous High Court order under which owners and operators of the battery-run vehicles were given six months time to withdraw from the street.”The deadline expired on March 15 and we are just complying with the High Court decision asking the operators to remove batteries from their rickshaws,” the official said.He said the meeting decided that legal steps would be taken against the owners and drivers if the battery-run rickshaws were found on the streets. -BSS, Chittagong