September 22, 2003	Monday	Rajab 24, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Sept 21: Unauthorized assembling of autorickshaws is going on in different parts of the provincial metropolis with the NWFP secretary industries expressing ignorance over illegal production of the tri-wheelers.

“The government has never heard about any illegal assembling or manufacturing of rickshaws in Peshawar,” Mr Shah Rukh Arbab said. According to him, his department would certainly take action if it discovered any such business.

The Baresko Gate, which used to be a known redlight area of the city, has now become a focal point for illegal production of four-stroke engine rickshaws. The price of the so-called indigenous rickshaw ranges between Rs40,000 and Rs45,000, while a genuine rickshaw fetches about Rs120,000.

The illegal assembling of rickshaws and their ever-swelling numbers in the city had taken its toll on the human population, environment and daily wagers, officials and dealers said.

The number of unregistered rickshaws in Peshawar has already touched the 5,500 figure, Superintendent Police (Traffic) Abdullah Khan said, observing that the unauthorised production had made the matters worse. The number of registered rickshaws plying on the city roads has risen to 11,500 in the recent days, while the excise and taxation department has already closed registration of more tri-wheelers.

The city district government has also allowed some 200 unregistered autorickshaws on the city roads to discourage the traditional horse-driven carriage, tonga.

Environmentalists considered autorickshaw a major source of noise and air pollutions in the city. A representative of IUCN said introduction of locally-designed four-stroke engine rickshaws and autorickshaws would further add to environmental degradation.

Traffic police officials say illegal manufacturing of rickshaws is going unabated in different localities of the city, but it is not their job to clamp down on this business, unless they receive directives from the concerned department.

One official said the Pakistan Engineering Development Board, Islamabad, taking note of illegal assembling of rickshaws in Peshawar and other towns of the NWFP, had directed the excise and taxation department to allot registration only to rickshaws they had certified.

Information gathered by Dawn revealed that dealers brought auto parts from Lahore which were assembled in workshops and auto shops in the famous Baresko Gate.

Mr Niaz Mohammad, an auto dealer, said mechanics assembled a rickshaw in four or five days and their low-cost production cornered original rickshaws in the market.

Mechanical engineers observed that the performance of indigenous rickshaws were poor and unsafe. But dealers and drivers say the so-called indigenous rickshaws are cost-effective as the people could not afford to purchase genuine rickshaws.