LAHORE, May 16: Drivers of two-stroke rickshaws kept their three-wheelers off road on Wednesday to protest the government’s decision to ban their `bread-winning’ vehicles’ in more city areas from May 20.
Though commuters had to suffer because of the strike by around 60,000 rickshaw wallas, the conspicuous absence of the `monster-vehicle’ resulted in a drastic cut in air and noise pollution levels, especially in downtown areas of the city, bringing a pleasant surprise for the citizens.
“There was neither suffocation in the city nor my vision was blurred (because of smoke emitted by vehicles),” commented Zameer Hasan, a motorist, who was unaware of the strike as he could not go through morning papers.
Auto-rickshaw workshops, mostly located on Lytton Road, and LPG sale points were also closed to show solidarity with the drivers and dealers. Interestingly, the workshops for four-stroke CNG-run rickshaws were also shut. As no vehicles were parked in front of the workshops and spare-parts outlets, the road looked fairly wider, accommodating more traffic. On a routine day, the traffic moves at a snail’s pace and at certain points it would choke.
Sajjad Ahmad, a motorcyclist, was happy to see that traffic on Lytton Road was unusually smooth on Wednesday. “Would that the passage had been in a better condition, I would have enjoyed driving on an otherwise overburdened road.”
There was almost a complete strike in the city as two-stroke rickshaws remained a rare commodity throughout the day. However, city fathers claimed to have made inroads into the rickshaw drivers and dealers union and won loyalties of 50 per cent of them to end the protest.
This provided a chance to drivers of CNG-run three-wheelers and of motorcycle rickshaws to exploit the situation and heavily overcharge the commuters already troubled by the scorching heat.
However, some of them were happy after a ride on the four-stroke vehicle.
Ishtiaq Hafeez, a lawyer, said he had for the first time boarded the new version of rickshaw and found it quite comfortable as compared to the two-stroke one. “It is easy to embark and disembark while its shock absorbers are also better.”
Though some two-stroke vehicles were spotted plying on `minor’ routes, their drivers avoided to join the main roads for fear of wrath of the protest leaders.
A two-stroke rickshaw driver carrying a woman and her two children from Oriental College to Mocchi Gate said that though he supported the cause of the association, he had to earn something to run his kitchen.
Another rickshaw was found loaded with water cans outside the District Courts. Its driver said he had sworn not to pick any passenger but to earn his livelihood he had to look out for some other use of his vehicle for the day.
He argued that the strike would be successful only if commuters would feel the pinch and put pressure on the authorities concerned for lifting the ban.
All Punjab Rickshaw Taxi Drivers Association president Asghar Khan Mohmand said the strike was peaceful. But the peace could not be guaranteed if the government did not accept their demands, he added.
He also announced holding of a protest demonstration on Lytton Road on May 20 when the ban on entry of two-stroke rickshaws to Jail Road, Defence Housing Authority and Mian Mir Bridge to Rangers Headquarters patch of The Mall comes into force.
The vehicles are already banned on the rest of The Mall.