The BTOA also alleges that the 43 routes on which CNG buses are allowed to run have been chosen indiscriminately and without any feasibility studies.

"For many routes, a huge number of permits have been issued although the buses were not actually required; at the same time BRTA gave a very small number of permits for some important city routes where passengers' demand for transport is very high," Bus Truck Owners Association (BTOA) Chairman Golam Mohammad Siraj MP said.

It is understood that many bus owners have stopped importing CNG-run buses and do not want to resume the import until the alleged mismanagement is dealt with. Bus owners recently stopped a deal that would have resulted in the import of many CNG buses for the city.

"It's very understandable that bus owners would never want to import CNG buses if they have to incur huge financial losses," Siraj said.

It is also alleged that BRTA officials harass bus owners in order to get money from the bus owners.

"It will be very tough to implement the government plan to introduce CNG buses to ply the city roads if the private bus owners stop importing CNG-run buses," the BTOA chairman said.

He also expressed concern over lack of progress in giving route franchises to private bus operators.

The city needs at least 2000 CNG-run buses while the present number is only 250, he said.

He stressed the need for maintaining separate lanes for rickshaws and motor vehicles. He added that the private bus sector would remain non-profitable until different lanes or roads for rickshaws and buses were set up.

Engineer Ashiqur Rahman, director of Sino-Dipon -- the company that introduced over 50 percent of the CNG-run buses in the city -- said if the government really wants to promote CNG-run vehicles, they must give preference to the CNG-run buses over diesel-run buses when giving routes.

"The government says it wants to promote CNG-run buses on the city roads. But, on the other hand, BRTA causes us a lot of hassles when we seek permits to run buses especially on the routes where passengers' demand is relatively high," he alleged.

"It's very hard for the CNG-run bus owners to compete with the diesel-run bus operators, as a CNG bus costs much higher than a diesel-run bus does," Rahman observed.

The BRTA chairman and director could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts by The Daily Star.

Deputy Director of BRTA Abdul Motaleb, however, said the BRTA has not received any allegation of irregularities regarding issuing route permits.

But employees of the BRTA of Mirpur office said its officials do not hesitate to give route permits when they are bribed.