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Rickshaw drivers consider switching back to petrol

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI: Twenty-seven-year-old Nasir came to Karachi three years ago, lured by the stories his friends told him about the city being the “Dubai” for auto rickshaw drivers. He bought a rickshaw and had it converted from petrol to LPG just before gas prices increased to Rs 70 per kg, making him reconsider running his rickshaw on petrol.

“I had planned to collect some money her and then return to my native village Dera Adamkhel, NWFP. But now I am stuck here, as I have to repay the money I borrowed for the conversion,” Nasir told Daily Times.

He said that the government had recently announced that LPG would be sold at Rs 63 per kg but LPG vendors in Karachi are charging Rs 70 to Rs 72 per kg. “We have no choice but to increase our fares and sometimes we too feel bad asking for high prices for small distances,” he admitted.

According to the Karachi Taxi, Motor Rickshaw and Yellow Cab Owners Association, there are 52,000 rickshaws and 32,000 cabs in the city, most of which recently switched from petrol to LPG. “We paid much to convert when the government made us switch to LPG by saying that rickshaws were posing a direct threat to the environment. We were expecting that the government would keep their word but by the time we all converted, the government had changed and now we are left to the mercy of LPG shopkeepers,” said Hafiz al-Haq Hasanzai, president of the association.

He said that every year in winter, LPG vendors increase prices on the pretext of fuel shortage but don’t decrease the price once winter ends. “Our organization has repeatedly requested the authorities to issue licenses to LPG shops, as was done with petrol pumps, so that the government can monitor the prices they charge. But the government completely ignores our requests and anyone can open a shop and charge whatever prices they want.”

He said that the government must establish a system of checks and balances on these shops. “We are avoiding a protest as the city is still recovering from the rioting asfter Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and we do not want to create problems for common citizens.”

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