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BRTA armed with 8 more magistrates

To step up mobile court drive against traffic rules violation

TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is going to strengthen its enforcement of traffic rules in Dhaka and Chittagong by deploying mobile courts three times the existing number.
Currently, only three mobile courts are carrying out operations in Dhaka and occasionally in Chittagong. The pubic administration ministry on Thursday issued an order posting eight more executive magistrates to BRTA offices in Dhaka and Chittagong to conduct mobile courts.
“With the new executive magistrates, we will be able to increase mobile court drives and strengthen enforcement of laws," Nur Mohammad Mazumder, director (enforcement) ofBRTA, toldThe Daily Star yesterday.
Besides, BRTA last week wrote to all deputy commissioners to enhance their mobile court drives at district level. The
administration in many districts has already intensified the drives, Mazumder added.
The developments came more than a week after school and college students began demonstrations demanding concrete government steps to improve road safety following deaths of two students in a city road crash on July 29.
The two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were killed on the spot as a Jabal-e-Noor bus ploughed through a crowd while competing with another bus of the same company. The accident ignited fury among students, mostly in their midteens, who virtually turned into traffic police to expose the flaws in the country's traffic management.
PERSISTING WORKFORCE SHORTAGE
The BRTA is responsible for issuing driving licences, vehicle registration, route permits, fitness clearance and enforcing traffic rules by conducting mobile courts.
It has 13 posts of executive magistrates to run mobile courts in Dhaka and Chittagong but most of the posts remained vacant for years, officials said. Maximum six magistrates were posted to BRTA at a time, they added.
“There were only five magistrates at the beginning of this year. However, a female magistrate went on maternity leave three months ago and another magistrate went abroad last week for his father's treatment, bringing down the number to three," an official told The Daily Star yesterday wishing anonymity.
The BRTA on several occasions wrote
to the public administration ministry for more magistrates in vain, insiders said.
Following the students’ movement, BRTA once against sought more magistrates and this time the ministry posted eight executive magistrates through the Road Transport and Highway Division, the officials added.
MORE MOBILE COURT DRIVES
As per Thursday's office order, three executive magistrates will join BRTA Chittagong office and the rest will join the headquarters in Dhaka by August 16.
Speaking anonymously, a BRTA official said following the movement a huge number of service seekers are thronging the three BRTA circle offices in Dhaka to fix their documents or renew those.
The official said they are operating three mobile courts in and around the circle offices to check the brokers. The official alleged that in many cases they did not get proper cooperation from the law enforcers.
Mazumder said the existing number of mobile courts was not enough for such a big city like Dhaka.
"When we start our drive in one area, vehicles avoid the place and go to other areas. Now that will stop. Drives of the mobile courts will increase and will be able to reduce the number of offences by covering more areas," he said.
Besides, BRTA on Thursday wrote to all the deputy commissioners to enhance mobile court drives against errant vehicles and drivers, an official said.
Mazumder added, "We do it regularly. We often give them [deputy commissioners] reminder in this regard."