"Westerners try to associate beggars and these rickshaws with Kolkata's tradition, but this is not our tradition," Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters, adding that the ban would come into effect within five months.
Chinese traders introduced the hand-pulled rickshaw to Kolkata in the early 20th century and sinewy, barefoot men pulling the vehicles are still a common sight in the city.
They are in especially great demand during the monsoon when flooded streets make it hard for commuters to use taxis or cars.
China banned hand-pulled rickshaws after the communists took power in 1949 and Kolkata is one of the only places left in the world where such rickshaws are used as everyday transport.
The only place I have ever seen rickshaws is Japan: in Takayama, Nara, and Kyoto. The rickshaws were tourist attractions, and there were both bicycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws. I have a nice picture of a young man pulling two girls in a rickshaw (and totally flirting with them) in Kyoto from our honeymoon, but I haven't uploaded those pictures yet.In any case, none of those were anyone's primary mode of transportation. They were similar to the horse-drawn carriages you'll find in American cities, like Louisville, Kentucky.
I think rickshaws are a unique part of Asian heritage. As I haven't seen them the way they are apparently used in Kolkata, I can't say whether or not the hand-pulled, public transportation variety is truly inhumane. I am glad, however, that rickshaws won't completely disappear from that city, but that officials plan to replace them with motorized and bicycle versions.
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Rickshaws in Calcutta
The Left Front Govt of West Bengal wants to get rid of the Image ? of man’s inhumanity to man ? rather than the reality of an inhumane society with inhuman living conditions for the labouring poor.
There is actually no humanity in the govt, for that would have meant working out a proper rehabilitation programme for the rickshaw pullers. Inhumanity, and vanity.
Creating an image, or dispelling an image versus actually erasing inhumanity.
Banning rickshaws without successfully arranging alternatives for the pullers means actually inflicting cruelty on the pullers, in the name of creating an image of humanity.
Hand and cycle rickshaws are appearing in cities in Europe today. One can visualise a regulated trade in Calcutta, where the puller derives a fair and humane wage.
There are also other forms of inhumanity ? domestic servitude, working conditions in the unorganised sector, living conditions of the urban poor in slums and shanties. On none of these is the govt doing anything.
The govt is also displaying its parochialism ? the pullers are predominantly Bihari. They are insecure, unorganised. Hence they are an easy target. Such biases can also be seen in Howrah station, in the conflict between the red-shirt (licensed, Bihari) porters and the (unlicensed, Bengali) blue-shirt porters.
Rickshaw pulling does not relly disrupt traffic. It is a meaningful mode of transport in particular localities, for particular functions, for both passengers and freight.
The ergonomics of the hand rickshaw are superior to that of the cycle rickshaw (the model used in Calcutta).
Cycle rickshaws are more of a nuisance, their conditions are pathetic, the plight of the cycle rickshaw puller is worse than that of the hand-puller, they represent a greater inhumanity, far greater numbers of cycle rickshaws exist. The health profile of the typical cycle-puller is far worse than that of the hand-puller. Though they are also periodically harassed in various localities, yet they are more organised than the hand-pullers.
Legality and illegality ? what are all the illegal activities flourishing in the city organised by political cadres? Flagrant violation of law is found in every sphere of life. Like the bus-owners now, threatening public disruption if efforts are made to implement pollution control norms!
The auto-rickshaw is entirely unwholesome and undesirable. Is a prime instrument of air and noise pollution. They are a menace to traffic. Unsafe, severely harmful. Part of a noxious lumpen under-life of the city. Most autos are illegal. Permits are given to party cadres. Beneficiaries have let out the vehicle to a driver, and often the actual driver is twice-removed from the owner, for whom the auto has become a means to derive an income from others’ labour. No civilised city should have auto-rickshaws.
The pretext of freeing roads for cars ? raises the question of how long the unchecked growth of private cars will continue. There has to be a long-term plan, both of expanding roads, but also limiting and controlling private cars ? as London has successfully demonstrated.
Traffic flow is severely impeded by hawking, markets and shops on pavements and roadsides, which are organised and profited from by political cadres.
Public transport is in a shambles.
When will the people of Calcutta rise up against their ugly rulers?
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