Rickshaws
I would have found Mr. Mohammed Rahat's letter on the subject in DS of 10 Apr 08 and earlier, his and that of Mr Farzand Ahmed of Bangkok, hilarious, if they had not dealt with the very serious problem of Dhaka's traffic jams so flippantly. These two gentlemen seem to be living in an illusory Utopia, with their heads in the sand like ostriches. Mr. Rahat brushes aside the existence of rickshaws and those connected with them with such demeaning expressions as “cancer, nuisance, inhuman, epidemic” and calls for their 'elimination' shades of Auschwitz!
Are they aware that the 2 lakh + rickshaws sustain the livelihood of 3-4 lakh pullers and perhaps 15-20 lakh family members? And that they are responsible for the mobility of at least 25 lakh rickshaw users including the poor, old, infirm, sick, women, children, disabled, traders etc every day? How will they get around their daily work, routine/emergency visits without them?
Mr Rahat is surely a car owner, so he does not even talk about cars or buses (few city routes with rickety buses usually jam-packed), CNGs (mostly lining up at gas stations and if found, not inclined to talk if you are not going to Uttara or Narayanganj and willing to pay through your nose), taxis (the less said the better). Together with Farzand of Bangkok, Rahat dangles the lollipop of MTS, subways, freeways, etc all of which are decades in the future, while calling for the 'elimination' of rickshaws NOW. They do not give a single constructive suggestion as to how both motorized and non-motorized vehicles can co-exist on Dhaka roadsAS THEY CAN? It is surprising that they did not refer to any of my 10 previous letters on the subject in the DS and refute the assertions made therein, if they were not practical.
Now for some hard facts that both the gentlemen have neatly evaded. Dhaka's roads constitute only 7.6% of its area as against the minimum requirement of 25%. These can somehow accommodate about 1.5-2 lakh vehicles as against the present 10.2 lakh (with 125-150 new cars being registered every day). Cars occupy 70-100sqft of space and most move about empty/half empty. They pollute, waste foreign exchange and are gas-guzzling monsters with an insatiable thirst for fuel presently above $100 per barrel. In contrast, rickshaws occupy only about 24sqft of space and usually carry 1.75 passengers cheaply, comfortably and YES, speedily if they are not hindered by over zealous cops. Earnings remain in-country and support lakhs of people. There is no pollution!
Monsoons are imminent and when your car gets stuck in flooded, polluted water, Mr Rahat please do not use the cancerous rickshaw but slog your way home on foot. The very real picture next to your letter is already a blunt reply if you are capable of appreciating facts that are logical and practical. There is no doubt that many of us belong to that fast growing breed of Bengalis who had totally disillusioned the illustrious Tagore in his last years as vividly described by Mohammed Badrul Ahsan in his candid and thought provoking article “Take it from Tagore” in the DS of 28 March08.
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