KARACHI: Two-stroke rickshaws to get reprieve till 2010
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 30: Sindh Governor, Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, on Wednesday directed the relevant officials to give the owners of worn-out, smoke emitting and noisy rickshaws cut-off dates up till 2010 to make their vehicles environmentally friendly.
During a meeting with a 30-member delegation of the Rickshaw-Taxi Association at the Governor’s House, the governor said that the new time frame and modalities for changes in the fitness or phasing out of the chaotic vehicles should strictly adhere to a relevant verdict of the Sindh High Court.
The delegation was led by President of the association, Hafiz-ul-Haq Hasan Zai.
As a follow-up to an SHC verdict given about a year back, the Sindh government had decided to ban existing rickshaws and had given until June 2007 for them to switch over to four-stroke vehicles.
The governor was informed that there were about 60,000 auto-rickshaws in the province and the replacement would require a considerable amount of time.
The governor asked the secretary of the provincial transport department to set the modalities for converting the rickshaws in question or replacing them with the approved vehicles, giving all consideration to the environmental requirements.
The new policy should be prepared in three months’ time, while ensuring facilities for rickshaw owners and the technical matters involved, he added, saying that it should also be determined how many rickshaws would be brought in line with the new system every year.
Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance, M.A. Jalil, Secretary Industries and Transport, Nasir Hayat, Secretary Environment, Mir Hussain Ali and DCO Karachi, Javed Hanif, and other officials also attended the meeting.
COMPENSATION: The Sindh government will pay the compensation for all vehicles torched in clashes or hired by the government since 1995, said Sindh Minister for Transport, Adil Siddiqui, on Wednesday while talking to a delegation of the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI), who called on the minister at his office, adds PPI.
KTI President Arshad Bukhari led the delegation. Secretary Transport, Nasir Hayat, EDO Transport, Mohammad Athar, Secretary PTA, Khalid Khan, Secretary DRTA, Shamim Akhtar, and others were also present.
The delegation comprised of KTI General Secretary, Mehmood Afridi, Pir Burhanuddin, Haji Tawab Khan, Haji Feroz Shah, Ayub Shah, Amir Khan, Mian Khan Rind and Hashim Khan.
