For the first time in Bangladesh, four district circle offices of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) – Mymensingh, Noakhali, Cumilla, and Faridpur – are set to get vehicle inspection centres combined with office complexes at new locations, which will help them streamline vehicle inspections and certifications.

The circle offices presently lack dedicated office buildings, relying on deputy commissioner's office buildings, conduct fitness tests and issue certificates manually, which experts deem unscientific as it creates opportunities for manipulation and illegal transactions.

This contributes to unfit vehicles on the road, resulting in increased road accidents and environmental pollution, they added.

However, with the completion of the modern vehicle inspection centres, vehicles can be inspected, and machine-generated certificates can be issued in just 5-7 minutes, processing 150-180 fitness certificates daily, according to BRTA officials.

The inspection centre's inputs and outputs will be integrated into all BRTA online systems, streamlining fee submissions and information retrieval for service seekers.

Additionally, each circle office building will include four conference rooms and a multipurpose hall.

Construction of the four eight-storey inspection centres cum office buildings are expected to begin in January 2024 and complete by June 2028, said BRTA officials.          Speaking to The Daily Sun, BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mozumder shared plans to construct training centres and motor vehicle driving testing centres under the BRTA Office cum Motor Driving Testing, Training and Multipurpose Centre project. This initiative aims to cover 17 district offices in the short term and eventually expand to all circles under a long-term plan.

Additionally, the BRTA intends to establish inspection centres in Keraniganj (Dhaka), Khulna, Chattogram, and Rajshahi circles in the near future.

The BRTA circle office buildings will be constructed under the Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation (BEST) project that got Ecnec (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) nod on April 11 this year.

The project, involving an estimated cost of Tk 2,945 crore, will develop infrastructure for the Department of Environment, Bangladesh Bank, BRTA, and Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority.

The government will provide Tk 190 crore of the budget, with Tk 2,805 crore contributed by the World Bank and AFD. Of the total budget, Tk 242 crore has been earmarked for the BRTA.

With this funding, the BRTA plans to construct vehicle inspection centre cum office buildings, equipped with a power sub-station, pump house building, external electrification, and becessary electrical equipment, in its Mymensingh, Noakhali, Cumilla, and Faridpur district circle offices, said BRTA officials.

In Mymensingh, a three-acre plot near the BSTI office in the Rahmatganj bypass area under Sadar police station has already been acquired to this end. In Cumilla, a three-acre plot has been acquired in the Alekharchar area along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, while in Faridpur, the BRTA has acquired 4.5 acres of land near the Faridpur Textile Institute, situated on the bypass road for the same purpose. In Noakhali, a 3-acre land has been acquired in Anantapur mouja under Begumganj upazila.