2-Stroke Rickshaws To Stay 'Til 2010

Enjoy the rickshaws while you can still have them around. Know why? Because the Government of Sindh has accepted the demand of 2-stroke rickshaw owners and has extended their stay until October 2010.

Sources in the Sindh law department said that the Sindh High Court (SHC) had also granted conditional permission to the government to extend the deadline and so has Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, reported the Daily Times. They said a notification was in process. But when asked on what conditions the SHC had granted permission, sources said the details of the conditions will be released after an official notification was issued.

Earlier, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan had extended the deadline to mid-2008 after being persuaded by rickshaw owners.

Registrations for new 2-stroke rickshaws have been banned and under the directives of the SHC, they have to be phased out as soon as possible. Under the present relaxation provided to phase-out faulty rickshaws, which are a major source of pollution in the city, owners of rickshaws would be bound to replace their vehicles by October 2010, the report continued.

According to an estimate, sources said that there were around 50,000 auto-rickshaws plying on the city’s roads and almost all of them were two-stroke. They were causing environmental degradation. “Around 0.2 to 0.3 million people were dependent on these rickshaw drivers which had refrained the government from taking strict action against them,” the data stated.

Air pollution and water pollution levels in Karachi had crossed national and international environment quality standards posing serious threats to the lives of the citizens, said a SUPARCO report. The main sources of degradation of the environment are smoke-emitting buses and rickshaws, which also cause rise in noise pollution, it added.

We only have less than three years, might as well enjoy them now for the future of rickshaws in Sindh will be blurry. Environment issues will soon keep them away from the territory.