Next time you get into modified rickshaws plying at Metro stations in Dwarka, providing the last mile connectivity, keep in mind that you could be getting into a dangerous death trap.
To compete with e-rikshaws, many cycle rickshaw pullers have installed heavy battery and motors and often notch up speeds of between 20 km to 40 km per hour. More important, they are often overloaded to make the maximum from every trip they make.
It is found that they use batteries that have more power than prescribed by the Motor Vehicle Act. Most important is that they are illegal as also pose a risk to the passengers whom they ferry as also to the other vehicles and people as the drivers are often untrained in driving vehicles.
They throw all safety norms to the winds and their sole purpose is to catch hold of more passengers and thus more money. Dwarka News
Said Naresh Kumar, a resident of Sector 5, who is working on a campaign to make roads a safer place, “they are now not simple rickshaws but public carrier vehicles. They also move at speeds of between 20 kmph to 40 kmph, making them unsafe as well as the bodies of the cycle rikshaws are not made for handling such speeds and stress.
Unfortunately, there is no one from the authorities who is checking this dangerous commuter vehicles, posing a threat to the safety of other motorists too.
At the metro stations like Sector 9, Sector 14, Sector 21, Dwarka Mod etc such E-rickshaws can be seen operating daily. Most are overloaded.
Each cycle rickshaw could be seen packing up to six passengers at any given time. A resident of Sector 14, Vikas Kumar told City Spidey, “overloading is not good for any vehicle and specially not so for a cycle rickshaw, which is not made for such use.” Whether it is outside Metro stations of Sector 14 or Sector 9, the scene is the same.
At Sector 14, they take five to six students to students to the IP University Campus. Not only they are overcrowded but also they ply on the wrong side of the road, say for example at Ramphal Chowk in Sector 7.
Use of battery now a trend in Cycle Rickshaw
Cycle rickshaw pullers are now using batteries and motor to complete with e-rickshaws. A high-powered battery is placed below the seat. Brij Lal, a rickshaw puller said he had been using battery for the past six months. He says he does not know the rules and the danger of using powerful battery and travel at a speed beyond 20 kmph. When asked why he was doing so, Brij Lal blamed it all on e-rickshaws and the competition they were posing.
“We are the worst sufferers due to such E-rickshaws. To, to compere with them and save our livelihood, we have to put batteries and make modifications to the rickshaw. Now, I can have a motorised rickshaw at a price of just Rs 20,000 instead of Rw 1.5 lakh or more for the original e-rickshaw.
On asking the comparison of battery power with a normal E-rickshaw, Brij Lal said, “ I have more powerful battery than them. They are using 600 watt 12 volt battery while I am using 700 watt 12 volt.”
Brij Lal is not aware of the consequences of riding his motorised cycle rickshaw. Be he is proud that the rickshaw is making him earn more now and said there were many other cycle rikshaw pullers who have modified their vehicles. “This is now a trend in Dwarka,” Brij Lal said.
Experts and activists agree that the authorities must step in and put a stop to this practice immediately.
“The balance of the body of Cycle Rickshaw is made for a speed of cycling. If you make it run on battery they would be extremely dangerous,” said Naresh Kumar an activist working on traffic awareness.
Flouting MV Act
According to the Delhi Motor Vehicles Act, vehicles with motor power less than 250W and capable of attaining speed of less than 25 kmph were regarded as non-motorized. These require no registration. But, now, to gain speed and power, the rickshaws are using four batteries of 12 V each and having collective wattage of between 650 and 900. They are designed to carry only four persons but now they are transporting 8 persons including the driver.
We are helpless: officials
One of the traffic officials said on the condition of anonymity, “we seldom challan such E- rickshaws as the rules are complex and we often avoid taking action and get into complex situation. But activists insist that administration must act quickly.
