PESHAWAR, June 3: Rickshaw-owners have rejected the city district government’s decision to replace their two-stroke engine vehicles with four-stroke ones and demanded permit for 2,000 more rickshaws in the provincial capital.

The rickshaw-owners, under the banner of the Muttahida Rickshaw Union, took out a procession from Charsadda Road to protest against the city district nazim. Chanting slogans and carrying placards, the protesters blocked Railway Road for half an hour before gathering in front of the Peshawar Press Club.

Addressing the rally, union president Sardar Khan alleged that City District Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali was serving interests of rickshaw manufacturers by introducing four-stroke tri-wheelers. He said that technically and environmentally four-stroke engine rickshaws were not suitable, adding that the previous district government had rejected it on technical grounds. He regretted that despite several demerits the nazim had decided to bring these ‘faulty’ rickshaws onto roads.

He said that traffic police had impounded 200 rickshaws on the charge of plying on roads without permits and urged police to hand over the tri-wheelers to their owners.

The district government has launched a drive against illegal rickshaws in the provincial capital and issued a 15 days notice to owners of such rickshaws to go off road or face action.

Officials say that some 2,000, out of a total 15,000, rickshaws have been plying on city roads without route permits.

The rickshaw-owners called upon the government to provide soft loan to install CNG kits in their two-stroke engine rickshaws to address the issue of smoke emission.

They said the government should launch a drive against illegal taxis and other vehicles instead of targeting rickshaws.