MULTAN, Nov 5th: Drivers of loader-Rickshaw on Sunday staged a demonstration at Lakkar Mandi Chowk and blocked the road by parking their vehicles for hours to protest against the ban on loading rickshaws as part of their struggle for the rights of the drivers. They shouted slogans against Police and administration. Loading rickshaw and six seater CNG rickshaws, though un-regularised and without any route permits, had become an alternative transport and carriage source for the people of the city in the last two years, providing much needed competition for the long-running mini-trucks, Suzuki carry, buses network. However, they were banned in August this year following the Punjab Govt's decision, which declared them unfit for the road. Rickshaw driver interpreted a different angle and said that the matter should be viewed as a human issue rather than a legal affair, due to the large number of people it concerns.“It is not a administrative or legal case, but a human one. It is the case of hundreds of thousands of drivers who feed their families and of those who use them daily for transportation of goods. The transport issue has remained a long-standing bone of contention between the authorities and the dwellers of the city, which is expanding with each passing day. Numerous transport schemes have been initiated by the government in the past to cater to the increasing needs of the city, but none of them were sufficed, nor did they continue. “If there will be no big buses, no circular trains, what will people rely on other than the Six seater CNG rickshaws?” questioned the drivers, adding that the government should make arrangements and give some time to the three-wheelers to get registered.
