Anti-pollution walk: Smoke gets in your eyes?

300 people walk to raise awareness about ban on two-stroke rickshaws.

LAHORE:

More than 300 people walked from Liberty Roundabout to Hafeez Centre on Thursday to raise awareness about the ban on two-stroke and motorcycle rickshaws.

The walk was arranged in connection with a recent campaign undertaken in collaboration among the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), the city police and the Transport Department.

Several meetings between the departments and the Awami Auto Rickshaw Union concluded with the rickshaw union presidents being persuaded to convert their rickshaws to four-stroke engines. Last week an inspection campaign was started and two walks have been arranged in this regard.

EPA Secretary Sher Alam Mehsud said that talks will be held with the manufacturers of two-stroke rickshaws. “Only by curbing the manufacture of the two-stroke rickshaw can the ban be effectively imposed.”

Pamphlets with EPA advice on converting to four-stroke rickshaws and replacing polluting parts such as cylinders were distributed to the participants of the walk, many of whom were rickshaw owners.

The pamphlet advised rickshaw owners and manufacturers to cooperate with the government in effectively switching to four-stroke rickshaws as the last date phasing out the two-stroke rickshaws was December 31, 2012. It advised that mobil oil be purchased from companies registered with the government. It also recommended that busy thoroughfares such as Canal Road, Jail Road, The Mall and Ferozepur Road be avoided.

Awami Auto Rickshaw Union president Majeed Ghauri told The Express Tribune that he had had several meeting with the EPA and had repeatedly requested that subsidies be provided to the rickshaw drivers so that they could switch to four-stroke rickshaws. He said the EPA had made no promises so far.

He said he has spread the word about replacing used cylinders and not mixing mobil oil with petrol as it results in poisonous emissions.

EPA vehicle pollution wing officer Azmat Naz said similar drives would be undertaken in Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad and Gujranwala.

The participants walked between 11am and noon. Another walk will be held on Saturday.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2013.