Rickshaw issue
My old friend, Mr Rahat of Malibagh has once again resurrected himself (DS 2/8/2010) after a long time, but as in numerous other letters before, he has nothing new to say except repeating his old bias BAN RICKSHAWS.
He is “outraged and appalled” that I had the temerity to appeal to Their Lordships of the Supreme and High Courts in my letter in DS on 17 May 2010, to intercede on behalf of the 3 lakh rickshaws (providing livelihood to 20-25 lakh rickshaw related families) that carry about 50 lakh Dhakabashis every day. They are illegally denied access to the so-called VIP roads. Will their Lordships be “forward looking” or will they uphold the law when the constitutional rights of so many people are being infringed? If only the rickshaw associations were more organized, the judgment on a PIL suit would surprise Mr Rahat.
I will not say anything against his precious private cars and other Gas Guzzling Monstrosities (GGMs) that of course float in the air (as most roads are mostly potholes) and have no hand in the endless gridlocks that choke the life out of the national economy!!!!! Being only a layman, I am not trying to “confuse” intellectually superior beings by “complex statistical data”. I have only quoted verbatim, the views, facts and figures of experts -- Urban planners, University Professors, BRTA, DMP etc. Most of all, I have been writing the plain truth (73 letters in 3 years), that is evident to all Dhakabashis who keep their eyes open when they venture out onto Dhaka's roads.
Mr Rahat is evidently banking on the promises of freeways, highways, metro, underpasses, over-passes, digitalized traffic control that will be in place in 10-15 years and will result in the natural death of rickshaws!! Good for him!! Unfortunately, the era of fossil fuelled transports will also begin to end at about that time unless massive new oil and gas reserves are discovered before that (Nat Geo Documentary “AFTER OIL”). So Mr Rahat with all those lollipops in place by 2020 (?), you might well be forced to put your car into a museum/junk yard because fossil fuel may not be available.
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