Six or nine seaters not allowed: Rickshaw owners protest against traffic police

Say that campaign is another way for traffic police to make money.

KARACHI: Traffic remained suspended at Qayyumabad Chowrangi and Nagan Chowrangi as the owners and drivers of six-seater and nine-seater rickshaws held a protest against the traffic police on Wednesday.

The rickshaw owners blocked the Qayyumabad Chowrangi at around 2pm and parked their vehicles on the roads connected to the roundabout under the KPT interchange, causing massive traffic jam at Korangi Road, Expressway, Creek Road, Khayaban-e-Ittehad and Jam Sadiq Bridge. The police intervened and asked the protesters to open the road but when the protest continued, they started aerial firing and baton charge to disperse the mob. In the evening, the drivers and owners of the rickshaws closed roads connecting to Nagan Chowrangi and obstructed traffic flow.



The Karachi traffic police launched a campaign against the six-seater and nine-seater rickshaws on Wednesday by fining and impounding dozens of rickshaws which did not have registration documents. "We have received orders from our officers to impound and fine all such vehicles, including rickshaw and taxis. These rickshaws are illegal and they don't have any documents or the right to ply on roads," said Qayyumabad traffic section Additional Section Officer (ASO) Ghulam Hussain.

Around 50 six-seater and nine-seater rickshaws have been detained at the impound yard of the traffic police at Defence View. The drivers of the impounded vehicles were negotiating with the traffic police officials at the yard to get their vehicles released.

Mohammad Jahanzeb's nine-seater rickshaw was also seized and he was asked to pay a fine of Rs500 by the traffic police at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre. "The police should take action against those who make these rickshaws. We have spent over Rs240,000 on a single rickshaw which is our source of income," he said, adding that he makes up to Rs1,700 a day from four trips between Saddar and Landhi. "We pay monthly bribes to the traffic police at the check posts which fall in our route and they usually don't bother us. This is just another way for the traffic police to make more money," he alleged.

According to Imran Hussain, whose nine-seater rickshaw has also been impounded, officials of the traffic police also own six-seater and nine-seater rickshaws while some of the bus owners have replaced their buses and minibuses with these rickshaws. DIG Arif Hanif told The Express Tribune that the police were regularly fining these rickshaws but now they have intensified their routine checking. "Those who submit the fine and get their complete documents can have their vehicles back.”

On Tuesday, the provincial minister for transport, Mumtaz Jakhrani, issued a statement giving ultimatum of 10 days to the makers and drivers of such rickshaws to shut their business.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2014.