5564In a drive against faulty vehicles in the capital, mobile courts of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) yesterday fined 102 vehicles for plying the city streets violating relevant laws.

In presence of Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, two mobile courts also lodged cases against owners of all the vehicles -- bus, minibus, private car and CNG-run auto-rickshaw -- for not having fitness clearance and other documents and realised Tk 2.5 lakh in fine.

Two buses were dumped for their rundown conditions while documents of three vehicles were seized as they could not submit fines on the spot.

The drive came around two weeks after BRTA published a list of over 55,000 vehicles, including 3,740 belonging to different ministries and government agencies, which have not had their fitness certificates renewed for more than a decade in breach of rules.

BRTA Director (Enforcement) Nur Mohammad Mazumder, however, said it was a regular drive and they would continue it.

The two mobile courts started its operation around 9:00pm on Manik Mia Avenue and continued for around five hours.

Obaidul Quader came to the spot at 10:54am. He also checked some CNG-run auto-rickshaws whether they were using metres.

Quader, also the general secretary of the ruling Awami League, ordered the BRTA officials to dump a privately-run Bikash Paribahan bus for overcharging commuters. The bus took Tk 50, instead of the fixed fare of Tk 32, from Abdullahpur to Azimpur.

The minister also rebuked a BRTA official as he could not tell the original fare of the route primarily.

Obaidul called the chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) over the mobile phone from the spot and asked him to repair two BRTC buses for its lack of facilities.

Later, he told reporters that the number of small vehicles has been increasing alarmingly compared to the number of roads in the capital.

He said a poor condition of public transport do not match with the GDP, per capita income of the country and Bangladesh's eligibility for graduating from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

An unhealthy competition among buses for more trips left three lives in danger in the last two weeks, he said. He also urged all to comply with the laws.

Criticising the VIPs who use the wrong sides of the road, he said no matter how powerful they are they cannot continue such bad practices.

Asked about the 55,000 unfit vehicles, the minister said work is on in this regard, and a comprehensive effort is also needed.