Is Solar Rickshaw really a Panacea? Dangers of Media Hype

Picture: Soleckshaw: Solar Powered Rickshaw being piloted in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

My big fear from media in relation to technology is hype. Media hype completely puts things out of perspective. In the case of technology, I am afriad that such euphoria will kill the technology with raised expectations that will not be fulfilled. I fear the same for Delhi’s ’soleckshaw.’ The soleckshaw is being presented as the grand, all-in-one solution to all kinds of things: from respect for the rickshaw-pullers to global warming. Soleckshaw has also been discussed here on Ecowordly and Planetsave in earlier postings.

Soleckshaw’s obvious advantages seem to be speed, ergonomics (especially for the driver), better balance and strength, looks and accessories. If things go well, it could help a lot: the solar rickshaw is undoubtedly more humane than the existing human-powered rickshaw; it would encourage people to use public transport (like the Delhi metro spreading its tentacles to distant ends of the metropole of Delhi) by adding end-point to end-point strength to trains that otherwise leave people to fend-for solutions at the two ends. The big benefits will, probably, come from providing viable alternatives to private cars, scooters, motorcycles or small buses that shuttle people from metro stations  and are both the cause and victims of traffic jams. Naturally, its biggest gain would be a humane-gain: reducing back-breaking labor.

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But caution must be exerted not to overrate these advantages of the solar rickshaw. Per se, the current cycle-rickshaw does not use any fossil fuel nor does it generate any pollution, the two often-cited gains from the soleckshaw. After all, it works on the principles of a bicycle.

It must be remembered that the soleckshaw is still in a trial phase.  In the absence of a manufacturer lined-up for mass-production of this CSIR (Center for Science and Industrial Research) prototype, predictions about its replacing cars and taking over the globe seem naive. Matching state-run CSIR’s ’socialistic’ values seems a tall order. A manufacturer is called for not only with a similar vision but also with the same level of commitment to the society and to the poor:  A manufacturer who will not be tempted by the highest profits, who will be innovative  about subsidizing the poorer soleckshaw owners through their earnings of carbon credits, who will look for creative ways like inviting the FM-radio people to underwrite some of the costs for soleckshaw owners, who will pull-together different societal resources to benefit the poor rickshaw-pullers, say through advertising as the CSIR hopes.

The questions of respect for the rickshaw-pullers, their exploitation by the police, and their dignity of the labor are more fundamental societal changes that need reformed ways of thinking and treating the poor and labor-classes. This is an area for attention and work for NGOs like Manushi.

The soleckshaw is touted to be the solution to “India’s traffic woes.” But, again, by itself, it could –just like the cycle-rickshaw– add to traffic problems by adding to the mixed traffic, made-up of varied vehicles interfering with the free-movement and speeds of each other. A better problem-redressal calls for clearly provided lanes for different grades of traffic. It is a design issue; it is an enforcement issue.

Picture: Rickshaws are the primary mode of goods transportaion in narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk

Ignoring these fundamental traffic problems is overlooking the root-causes. Delhi government’s 2006 ban on Chandni Chowk rickshaws — in name of clogging traffic in that as-it-is-dense wholesale market — seems ridiculous; it is no better than burying your head in sand. In the narrow, crowded lanes of Chandni Chowk that had no room for transporting goods by lorries or trucks, the push-carts and rickshaws were the only solution; they helped transport goods worth thousands of dollars each day. To the small, domestic/ non-commercial shoppers (attracted by cheap, wholesale prices of the market) the cycle -rickshaw was an oasis in the desert, lugging them and their bulky-buys only for pennies. It  is baffling that the government (a popularly elected one at that) was even able to set aside concerns of mass-unemployment that such a ban would have created.

Picture Credits: Solar Rickshaw (Courtsey: Delhi Walla), Rickshaw for goods transportation (Courtsey: Sputnik Mania via Flickr.com under Creative Commons License)

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