Dhaka and rickshaws
I find interesting the healthy discussion going on in this page of DS regarding ban on rickshaws put forward by Mr. Sikander and Mohammad Rahat.
I think it's not the 'humane' factor that stirs up the conscience of car-owners towards ban on rickshaws; rather it's the needed ease with which they along with other city dwellers wish to ply the roads of the capital. Nevertheless, the issue is crucial as well as complicated and warrants a holistic approach to be adopted.
Unlike capitals of developed countries, Dhaka has grown in a completely haphazard fashion. So it would not be politic to follow others blindly disregarding our own situation. It's a matter of neither going backwards/forward nor taking unpopular decisions. We have a legacy for which we have to painfully pay now. If we want to see rickshaws eliminated, we have to first fix the whole existing ramshackle road system of Dhaka. Until then, we can't but rely on rickshaws for short distance travel. So we better ponder over how we can make coexist motorised and non-motorized vehicles.
In his letter dated April 21, 2008, Mohammad Rahat mentioned that none of us is happy with rickshaws and these should be eliminated outright. I think it's not the rickshaws, but the policy that is being followed to permit them to ply the city roads that is making us unhappy.
I feel that eventually it's the majority of Dhaka's population, i.e. middle and low class people, whose benefits matter most. Moreover, thinking of car-owners as being callous to the sufferings of commoners is wrong. Many car owners can realize the plight of people forced to jostle helplessly in the tiny space of inter-city buses.
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