Inter-District Bike Movement Not Allowed for 7 Days

The government has banned inter-district travel for motorcycles for seven days during the Eid-ul-Azha holiday. 

The latest move follows a recent ban on motorcycles from using the Padma Bridge and Dhaka-Mawa expressway, which the government says is unlikely to be lifted before Eid.

“On these seven days—three days prior to Eid, three days after Eid, and the day of Eid—motorcycles and ride-sharing services will be banned from moving between districts,” said ABM Amin Ullah Nur, secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division.

Additionally, motorcycles will be banned from being driven on highways during this period, he added.

The government took the decision at an emergency meeting held at the Road Transport Ministry at the Secretariat on Sunday.

Soon the Roads and Highways Department will issue a circular to implement this decision.

The secretary however said that motorcycles may only travel between districts with the permission of the police.

Lifting ban on bikes unlikely before Eid

The government is unlikely to lift the ban on the movement of motorcycles on the Padma Bridge before the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said this in reply to a question from journalists at a press briefing at the Secretariat in Dhaka after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday.

He said the government would not allow motorcycles on the Padma Bridge before the installation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras and speed guns there but the installation would take some time.

After the installation, the government would take a decision on the movement of motorcycles on the Padma Bridge but it is very difficult to do it before the Eid-ul-Azha, he said.

“We have to understand that it is a two-tier double-deck bridge. There is no scope for people to walk on the bridge while there is no footpath and any system of movement (walking) here.”

Khandker Anwarul Islam said law enforcement officials would become more vigilant and take action if anyone violated the rules of the bridge.

The Korean Express Corporation took over the responsibility of the Padma Bridge in the afternoon on the day of its inauguration. They will look after toll management and maintenance of the bridge, he added

The Bridge Division, under the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, banned motorcycles on Padma Bridge from June 27, 2022, until further notice after two bikers sustained fatal injuries and later died at the hospital.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge with great fanfare on June 25.