Overweight solar-powered rickshaws pulled of roads in India
Greenlaunches
A disappointment to the green community in India, solar-powered rickshaws have been pulled off the road. These rickshaws wereunveiled last year by the Municipal Corporation, to whom they have beendolefully returned. Besides the already overweight passengers, the solar panels act as an added weight to the rickshaw pullers, increasing their workload.
Ironically, this project, costing the authorities Rs.1,500,000, was undertaken to reduce the labor involved. Rickshaw-pullers have complained that the batteries drained after 40 kilometers, afterwhich man power was required. The pullers were also required to pay theMunicipal Corporation Rs. 500 every month, an act that fell heavy ontheir pockets. Using lightweight solar modules available nowadays mighthelp reduce the load and the backache of rickshaw-pullers in India.