Dhaka Metropolitan CNG-run Auto-rickshaw Malik Samity Oikya Parishad will go on a 72-hour strike in the city on Tuesday demanding the extension of economic lifespan of the vehicle by four years more.
Nearly 13,000 CNG-run three-wheelers are now plying the city streets commercially and the economic lifespan of an auto-rickshaw is 11 years.
Talking to UNB, member secretary of the Oikya Parishad ATM Nazmul Hasan said they took the decision at an emergency meeting held at its temporary office in the city on Monday.
He said the Mechanical Engineering Department of Buet recommended extending the economic lifetime of three-wheelers to 15 years after testing the vehicles six months ago. Even a nine-member committee formed by the Communications Ministry also suggested extending the life term by four years, he added.
Despite the recommendations of Buet and the ministerial committee, no decision was taken in this regard yet due to bureaucratic tangles, Nazmul alleged.
“If the government does not concede to our demand, we’ll go on an indefinite strike from Sunday next,” he said.
From a human chain programme in the city on May 24, the CNG-run auto-rickshaw owners threatened to go on the strike if their demand was not met by Tuesday.
The government banned all two-stroke auto-rickshaws in urban areas in 2002 giving permission to run the four-stroke CNG-run three-wheelers. The lifespan was set at nine years but later it was extended upto 11 years in two times amid strong demand from the owners’ association.
Source: UNBConnect
