Recently, electric rickshaws have become a risk due to overloading and operating them illegally.
What you should know
On the afternoon of last Poush 17, seven passengers were injured when an e-rickshaw heading from Chandrapur Chowk to Bharattal in Sarlahi fell off the road near Chandi Bridge in Chandrapur-4.
On the afternoon of May 18, 8 people, including 7 from the same family, were injured when an Indian pickup van and a rickshaw collided between Sukdev Chowk and Jayanagar under the Gaur-Chandranigahpur section. The accident occurred when a rickshaw bearing the number Province 2-03-001 Ha 1074 collided with a pickup vehicle bearing the number BR 06 GG 5404 coming from the opposite direction.
A few days ago, a rickshaw bearing the number Madhesh Province 03-001 Ha 3610 going from Chandranigahpur to Sarlahi fell 15 meters off the road due to its brakes failure. Immediately, the police took into custody the rickshaw driver Raju Sah of Chandrapur-10. The speeding rickshaw fell while giving way to a truck coming from the opposite direction. The police said that the driver had also loaded more passengers in that rickshaw than its capacity.
Traveling in the district has become risky due to electric rickshaws. Accidents have increased in the district due to such rickshaws. In recent times, electric rickshaws have become a risk when they carry more passengers than their capacity and drive in violation of the rules. Police statistics show that e-rickshaws are involved in accidents because they carry more passengers than their capacity. According to the traffic office, 61 e-rickshaw accidents occurred in various places in the district in the last fiscal year. In the first six months of the current year, 77 passengers were injured in 56 e-rickshaw accidents. According to the police, the number of passengers in most of these incidents is more than the capacity.
District Traffic Police Chief Police Inspector Rajendra Thapa Magar said that he has been calling those who carry more passengers in three-wheeled rickshaws and violate traffic rules to the office and informing them about the rules. “We have asked them not to carry more passengers than their capacity and drive recklessly,” he said. “We are taking action against those who drive without a license and do not follow the rules.” He said that the traffic police is organizing a program to raise awareness about the rules by gathering drivers from across the district.
The main market of the district, Chandrapur Chowk, is always busy. Vehicles from Mechi to Mahakali stop here. Lately, only e-rickshaws have been found in the busy chowk. There is no organized parking. They park wherever they want. From time to time, there is a hide-and-seek between the traffic police and the drivers. If the traffic police park their rickshaws on the road, they chase them. The police see that the rickshaw drivers run away. They park their rickshaws on the road and start picking up passengers as soon as the bus stops. The traffic police say that there is a risk of accidents during such a tug-of-war.
Kedar Prasad Timalsina, former president of the Nepal Transport Independent Workers' E-rickshaw Association, said that accidents occur because rickshaws with a capacity of 5 seats, including the driver, carry up to 10/12 people. ‘I have repeatedly said that we should work within the boundaries of the rules,’ he said, ‘To eliminate the situation, we should take immediate action against the autorickshaws that carry more passengers. Now the traffic police should come into action.’
There are 800 such autorickshaws in the Chandrapur municipality area alone. The capacity here is only 200. The municipality has stated that it is difficult to manage after four times more are in operation. Apart from Chandrapur, rickshaws are parked haphazardly on the roads of Dumaria, Garuda, Shivnagar and the district headquarters Gaur.
