AKKELPUR, Joypurhat — Pedal-driven rickshaws were once the most reliable means of getting around the lanes of cities and villages. Rickshaw pullers turned the wheels of livelihood through rain and shine, and the “kring kring” of their bells filled the streets. The rickshaw was the source of income for countless low-income families.
But with the touch of modernity, the pedal rickshaw is now being displaced by the battery-powered auto. A once-vibrant tradition is quietly disappearing, leaving behind only the memory of a sound — “kring… kring…” Once, the lanes of Akkelpur municipal town in Joypurhat rang with rickshaw bells morning and evening. Now that scene is almost rare. Under the dominance of battery-powered autos, that old vehicle is on its way out. As livelihoods have changed with the times, so has the culture of transportation.
Pedal rickshaws require more effort for less income. Battery-powered auto-rickshaws, by contrast, offer higher earnings for less work, so a large share of drivers have switched professions. Rows of auto-rickshaws are now visible everywhere from city to village, and passengers have come to prefer them as a fast and comfortable mode of travel.
Rickshaw puller Rahim Uddin, 65, said: “Son, buying an auto takes money. I am a poor man. This rickshaw is all I have. I used to pick up passengers, now I sell ice cream. Whatever I earn in a day, that is how the family runs. People don’t even want to walk now, everyone gets in an auto.”
With sadness in the corner of his eyes, he added: “I have spent my life with the sound of this bell. Now everyone says, ‘Grandfather, why do you still pull this?’ But I cannot throw it away. It is my companion.”
Pedal rickshaw puller Azizar Rahman voiced the same lament. “People no longer want to ride a pedal rickshaw. So most of the time I have to sit and wait. I used to earn 200 to 300 taka a day; now it has come down to 80 to 100 taka. It is hard to run a family on such little income,” he said.
Battery-powered auto-rickshaw driver Mohan Ali said: “Pulling a rickshaw takes a lot of effort and earns little. But with an auto-rickshaw you can earn 500 to 700 taka a day. Many are buying them easily because they are available on installment.”
About 23 factories in Joypurhat currently produce an average of 80 to 90 battery-powered auto-rickshaws a month. But production costs have risen sharply as raw material prices have climbed. The prices of rod, sheet metal and batteries have risen about 40 percent in two years.
Al-Amin Hossain, a local factory owner, said: “Making the body of an auto-rickshaw costs at least 80,000 taka. The total cost, including battery and motor, comes to about 1.4 lakh taka (140,000). Many work with NGO loans because bank loans are hard to get.”
Liton Chandra Ghosh, deputy manager of the Joypurhat BSCIC industrial estate, said: “Rising demand for battery-powered auto-rickshaws has created new employment opportunities. BSCIC is taking steps to support technical training and the production system.”
A few years ago, more than 50 factories in Akkelpur town were making rickshaws. About 2 crore taka (20 million) worth of rickshaws were sold each month. Now only three pedal rickshaws can be counted, and their drivers are elderly.
The vehicle that was once the only means of transport for people in cities and villages is now becoming a thing of the past. The memory of a generation’s sweat and labor is being left behind in the race of technology.
Perhaps the pedal rickshaw will one day disappear completely, surviving only in the pages of history or in museum exhibits — where someone may pause and once again hear the familiar tune, “kring… kring…”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report