KARACHI, Sept 15: There has been a mixed reaction on the city nazim’s decision of imposing a ban on the operation of two-stroke rickshaws from Sohrab Goth to Tower via Shahrah-i-Pakistan and from Guru Mandir to Tower via M.A. Jinnah Road.

The National Transport Ittehad, Karachi (NTIK) has called for an immediate withdrawal of the ban and announced that it will continue the operations of two-stroke rickshaws on the same route. The transporters have also threatened to observe a strike if the government fails to withdraw the ban.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), more concerned about the health aspect, has welcomed the decision as according to the PMA these two-stroke rickshaws were contributing greatly to noise and environmental pollution.

According to a PMA Karachi survey held in 2007, the two-stroke rickshaw engine generates noise from 95db to 110db which is harmful to human hearing capacity.

This can be judged from the fact that an engine of aeroplane creates noise from 120db to 140db and it was for this reason that hearing capacity of people living in Karachi was lesser than people in other cities.

Its other common harmful effects include peevishness, anger, high blood pressure, etc. Similarly environmental pollution caused by rickshaws is also greatly harmful to health particularly mental nourishment (especially among children), causing sinusitis and other ailments, dangerous diseases of respiratory tract and lungs, eye and skin diseases etc.—APP