GUWAHATI: Motorized cycle rickshaws will no longer be allowed in Guwahati, according to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC).
GMC authorities maintained that these motor- fitted rickshaws are more prone to accidents and that they have received several complaints regarding the rickshaws, which have supplanted manually pulled rickshaws.
Commuters using such rickshaws have however labelled this a bad decision because such rickshaws are better than manually pulled rickshaws and cut down on travelling time.They stated that even e-rickshaws are not properly regulated by authorities,
It should be noted that in the previous two years, a new mode of operation for cycle rickshaws has started in the city, using a motor and a battery to automatically operate the rickshaw rather than manually pulling it. One dynamo, a motor, and a battery at the back are needed for the modification.
They claimed that rickshaws with motors have shortened travel times and also minimized the manual effort of rickshaw pullers.
E-rickshaws frequently break rules set forth by the transportation department, including overloading and traveling on public roads. A commuter claimed that it is frequently dangerous to ride in an e-rickshaw.
An e-rickshaw carrying too many passengers plunged into a river in Chaygaon, India, recently, according to a significant accident report.
E-rickshaws are jam-packed onto popular routes like AK Azad Road, Rajiv Gandhi Road, and others in Guwahati as well, in violation of numerous transportation department regulations.
Officials from the transportation department claim that e-rickshaws are limited to lane traffic.
Few replace the old batteries and parts in their rickshaws with used ones in order to minimize the cost. With this improvement, the rickshaw puller may now accelerate the vehicle rather than pedaling to drive it forward.
The new battery-powered and motor-equipped rickshaws are very popular because the driver can go faster than before.
The new battery-powered rickshaws are preferred by commuters over the older design.
A rickshaw driver in the Beltola Bazar neighborhood claimed, "I had to improve my rickshaw to thrive in the competition as customers nowadays prefer the battery rickshaw." Few rickshaw drivers have even gotten unofficial loans to buy battery rickshaws; instead, most of them rent them out at a premium price.
The battery-powered rickshaws have greater rent than the manual ones. "The battery-operated rickshaws cost between Rs. 400 and Rs. 500 less per day than the cycle rickshaws do.
However, since we have less labor to do and more people to serve, we get more money "explained a rickshaw driver in the Jayanagar neighborhood.
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