REDUCING AIR-POLLUTION THROUGH THE USE OF MODERNIZED CYCLE-RICKSHAWS

ABSTRACT

The ubiquitous and humble Cycle Rickshaw provides livelihood to large populaces, mostly the society’s underprivileged, as no other single technology/product does. In India alone some 3 to 5 mill. are employed by it. The Rickshaw’s capital and operating costs are low, demand for it is established- it can penetrate the narrow and crowded lanes of old city areas and central business districts; its speed is reasonable and its usage flexible. However, the existing rickshaw is also a seen as inhuman, unhealthy and degrading to the puller. It is also seen as being responsible for the migration to cities- plying it requires no great skill and its ready and flexible availability makes rickshaw pulling the preferred profession of a migrant. With air-pollution from motorized transport fast turning into ‘slow murder’, the humble rickshaw also constitutes an alternative 100% eco-friendly short-haul transport with its use of abundant and readily utilizable human muscle-power. Phasing out the rickshaw could lead to great social unrest. The rickshaw needs to be modernized and re-established as a viable and even as a futuristic mode of transport, and its scope of usage extended greatly through design optimized from both the engineering and usage standpoints. The cycle rickshaw is an engrained element of the Indian society- it is indeed its icon. It has served the society for a century and needs to be repaid through its refurbishment and sustenance, not pushed aside in a sweep of ill-conceived modernization.