Tom Tom Carriage to Auto Rickshaw

Ekka Garis or Tom Tom Carriages were the chief mode of public transport until the advent of cycle rickshaws. Bicycles came to Guwahati in the year 1900 and with its advent the transportation situation of Guwahati took a revolutionary turn. After understanding the mechanism through which bicycles functioned, the manufacturing of cycle rickshaws became possible. 

Under the Bengal Municipal Act of 1850 an order was passed by the Government of Bengal to constitute a Municipal Board for Guwahati. In those days, Assam was administered from the centre of administration located at Calcutta (in the Bengal Presidency). The Guwahati Municipal Board after coming into operation had levied a tax on the citizens (earning Rs 5 or above) and the money thus collected was spent for various developmental works like construction of permanent roads (made of asphalt and stones), drainage facilities and other civic amenities and infrastructure. The area covered by the Municipal Board was small in dimension. Uzan Bazar, Pan Bazar, Fancy Bazar, Rihabari and Bhorolumukh--only these areas were within the jurisdiction of the Board.

It is clearly mentioned in a book on Guwahati by Late Kumudeswar Hazarika that till this period (under discussion) there was no mechanised means of transport in the town. To carry goods there were horse carts and bullock carts and to carry people there were four seater Ekka Garis or Tom Tom Carriages drawn again by horses. The narrow thoroughfares and roads were lit by carbide or kerosene lamps placed at a height through metal posts. One can well imagine the days when these Tom Tom Carriages moved through the small thoroughfares of the town during the darkness of the evenings amid the light emanating from the lamps placed on the posts by the side of the small roads.

Looking at the size of the town it can be safely concluded that the number of such carriages was not too many. Kumudeswar Hazarika mentions that these Tom Tom Carriages were very popular among womenfolk belonging to families of the upper class because of the privacy and comfort that it offered.

During the second half of the nineteenth century, Guwahati grew both in size and population and by 1893 new areas like Silpukhuri and Maligaon were drawn into the municipal limits and the population exceeded 20,000. The commonly noticed thatched houses of the early nineteenth century were slowly being replaced by Assam Type structures.

Ekka Garis or Tom Tom Carriages were the chief mode of public transport until the advent of cycle rickshaws. Bicycles came to Guwahati in the year 1900 and with its advent the transportation situation of Guwahati took a revolutionary turn. After understanding the mechanism through which bicycles functioned, the manufacturing of cycle rickshaws became possible. Within a short time cycle rickshaws became a popular mode of transport for the town dwellers. As the population increased the number of rickshaws too increased and at one point in time rickshaws became the most popular means of transport for the people of Guwahati. For students, traders and the office attending population particularly cycle rickshaws became a very practical mode of daily commute. It is worth mentioning that despite the availability of diverse modes of transportation today, cycle rickshaws have not become obsolete in Guwahati.

Automotive vehicles came to Guwahati more than a century ago and the first private car owner was Tarun Ram Phookun –a noted freedom fighter and leader of Congress. The pioneer in car business was a businessman named KK Sen who had his showroom in Fancy Bazar. Eventually in 1948 the passenger bus service came into operation. Guwahati did not have the credentials to be called a city but an enterprising businessman from Uzan Bazar, Subha Baruah introduced bus services to ferry passengers between Bharalumukh and Silpukhuri. Slowly the route started expanding.

Despite the advent of the City Bus service the rickshaws dominated the transport scenario within the city for a long time to come. However, as the twenty first century dawned the slow moving vehicles were barred from entering into certain roads (because the slow speed acted as a deterrent to the fast moving vehicles that had taken over the traffic scene). Nevertheless the popularity of cycle rickshaws was still high because most areas (not covered by city bus service) were accessible with the help of a rickshaw.

The later part of the twentieth century saw many new additions to the city's transportation facilities. The skeleton service of the bus network expanded and it covered places like Khanapara, Beltola, Kahilipara, Jalukbari and many other areas. In fact the seventh decade of the last century was indeed a watershed in the history of Guwahati City (the town had transformed into a city in the true sense qualifying on all the requisite parameters. Also the capital had shifted from Shillong to Dispur in 1972) and a variety of small city buses commonly called mini buses too were introduced.

It was the introduction of mechanically operated rickshaws called Auto Rickshaws that set a milestone in the history of public transport in the city. This vehicle hit the roads of Guwahati in the early part of the seventies.

As mentioned earlier, erstwhile Guwahati was a place where cycle rickshaws were a veritable boon for the commuters. After all, the city buses could not meet the needs of the people fully. As distances between places within the city increased, a faster mode of transport (than a cycle rickshaw) became a necessity. Consequent to a scheme offered by the then Chief Minister for the educated unemployed (with a loan on easy terms), the first batch of autos started running on Guwahati roads on a cool November day of 1971. A new era of public transport had arrived.

By: Bhaskar Phukan

The writer can be reached at bhaskarphukan67@gmail.com

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