Akbar Khan claims he was the first man to bring the Qingqi rickshaw to Karachi in 2001. PHOTO: FILE
Akbar Khan claims he was the first man to bring the Qingqi rickshaw to Karachi in 2001. He came to the city with eight Qingqis that plied around the Old Sabzi Mandi area. But at that time, Khan said, people were reluctant to travel in them and he had no drivers.
“Now people prefer it over the public buses because they take less time and are cheaper also,” Akbar says. He now owns 40 Qingqi rickshaws that operate in Gulshan Town.
A Qingqi rickshaw easily earns between Rs700 and Rs800 a day and operates within a distance of 10 kilometres. Everyday, all 40 drivers come to Khan to pay him Rs200 from the day’s earning.
“It is a cheaper way of transportation for the poor,” he said. “Hundreds of livelihoods are associated directly with it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ