Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Auto-Rickshaws literally flood the provincial metropolis and it is not only the registered but the unregistered tri-wheelers that also ply the roads of provincial capital with no fear of being caught or afraid of any punishment.

According to a source in the Peshawar traffic police, at least four to six tri-wheelers were illegally registered on the same registration number and they freely roam around the city.

Apart from the environmental and noise pollution the hazards these tri-wheelers create to messy traffic system of Peshawar. Similarly, it has also increased the ratio of the traffic accidents in the city leave alone other problems being faced by the ordinary commuters.

Muhtaram Khan, an auto-rickshaw dealer by profession, who has been dealing in the sale and purchase of the tri-wheelers for the last 30 years, also confirmed it to the Daily Times that at least three to five rickshaws in the city were registered with a single registration number.

He said it was the responsibility of the authorities concerned particularly traffic and excise officials to keep a check on the unregistered vehicles plying the roads of the city. However, it is not the case, he said, adding that mostly these were the traffic and excise officials who had given these illegal rickshaw drivers a clean chit in return for small amounts of bribes on a daily basis. While elaborating his argument Muhtaram said, “Only one out of the five or six rickshaws is registered while the rest are plying the roads with forged documents.”

In recent years, the city has been witnessing a dramatic increase in the number of tri-wheelers in the city.

Despite the fact that the government had placed a ban on the two-stroke rickshaws in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in reality the writ of the government seemed to have not been implemented in letter and spirit as hundreds of them ply the roads of Peshawar, the provincial capital.

Waqar Ali, a city dweller and a student of the University of Peshawar said, “Drivers of these tri-wheelers use sub-standard engine oil as well as Liquefied Natural Gas that results in the emission of noise and air pollution.”

Talking to Daily Times, Superintendent of Police (SP), Traffic Headquarters Peshawar, Habibullah Khan Swati, said that his department was working on a plan to clean Peshawar from these illegal rickshaws. Soon the Peshawariites would see many of these tri-wheelers being impounded by the Traffic Police.”

He added that they had already issued a notification in this connection and a full-fledged search and strike operation against illegal vehicles was on the cards. He maintained that a number of illegal tri-wheelers and other vehicles had been fined and impounded recently.