Almost extinct in other parts of the country, the decades old two-stroke rickshaws were largely contributing to the environmental degradation and polluting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s metropolis, Peshawar, sadly without any check.
These two-stroke noise creating rickshaws must burn engine oil with fuel to ply on roads and release much hazardous smoke which besides polluting the environment, sheds a very bad impact on human health. It’s a routine view on Peshawar roads that a single two-stroke rickshaw covers the entire scene with smoke for the commuters following the three-wheeler.
Approximately there were over 80000 rickshaws in Peshawar with more than half having no registration. Among these rickshaws over 8000 were two-stroke. The excessive numbers of rickshaws were not only a major reason for the traffic mess in Peshawar but above all a big challenge to environment protection and safety to human health.
The health risks of air pollution created by these rickshaws were much more serious as poor air quality increases respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis that heightens the risk of life-threatening conditions.
Chaos on the roads along with emission of hazardous gases by vehicles, especially by rickshaws, was growing and so was their threat to the people’s health. No doubt these rickshaws were a major pollution contributor, producing significant amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other hazardous gases.
According to a recent study done in several parts of the city, the presence of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in the air was much higher than the international standard set by the World Health Organization.
The air is heavily polluted by smoke and noise. The noise level in the city ranges from 90 to 100 decibels though its limit set by WHO is 85 decibels. Doctors blame rickshaws for noise pollution, which, according to them, was the major cause of high incidence of hearing impairment, hypertension and heart problems among locals.
Dr Hamza Khan of Khyber Teaching Hospital said the noise generated by three-wheelers had a negative bearing on human hearing and caused blood pressure, hypertension, palpitation, breathing difficulty, stomach problems, stress and sleep disorders. He said his 30 percent of patients complained of hearing problems largely due to high noise levels of rickshaws.
Interestingly, when asked by a two-stroke rickshaw driver why he was polluting the air, he harshly answered that he was not robbing the people but just earning livelihood for his children. However when calmed, he said in fact this rickshaw could not be run without mixing engine oil in its fuel and it has to burn the lubricants and release smoke.
Besides playing havoc with people’s health, these three wheelers have also turned out to be big violators of traffic laws. These drivers run the traffic lights maneuvering their vehicles and risking the life of other road users.
Most of the drivers of these rickshaws even have no proper legal documents of the vehicle and driving licenses, yet they drive like monarchs of the roads.
They seemed accustomed to violating traffic rules. It was also evident that the traffic mess is mostly caused by the three-wheelers and if the number of these rickshaws was curtailed, 70 percent of traffic jams and mishaps could be averted.
Moreover almost all two-stroke rickshaws had no horn, proper headlights, indicators and above all proper brake mechanism which frequently caused major or minor road mishaps on city roads.
Though many of the rickshaw owners have acquired four stroke rickshaws that were comparatively environment friendly with less noise and air pollution but still there were scores of smoke emitting two-stroke rickshaws contributing to environmental degradation in the city.
The introduction of four-stroke rickshaws has lessened the impact of environmental hazards to some extent, yet their entry in large numbers to the city has thrown traffic into utter chaos.
Earlier, during a past regime the KP transport authorities and traffic police had asked the rickshaw owners to convert their two-stroke rickshaws to four-stroke ones without delay but none of the rickshaw owners was ready to obey the order without compensation from the government.
Some of the city dwellers when asked said It was incomprehensible why such vehicles were roaming freely in the city and given permission to play with people’s health in daylight.
Arshad Ali, a shopkeeper on Ashraf Road said though the incumbent KP government has streamlined the affairs of cleanliness on the ground, the two-stroke rickshaws were ruthlessly polluting the atmosphere which needed solid steps for containment. This was a thought provoking situation for the authorities concerned, he added.
Besides, he said non-registered rickshaws should be confiscated so that road and civic sense may be instilled into the people.
