E rickshaws are back in Matheran as per court orders

Navi Mumbai

Following the recent order by the Apex court on November 23, the e-rickshaws are back in the hill station closest to Mumbai- Matheran - from December 26. Even as the general opinion among the locals is that MAtheran Hill Station Municipal Council (MHSMC) has denied the hand cart pullers to run the e-autorickshaw, the council has denied the same claiming that they are following the court orders.

A retired teacher from Mumbai, Sunil Shinde, who currently resides in Matheran, had filed a PIL demanding to end the hand-cart pulling tradition in the hill station claiming it to be inhumane practice and demanded to instead let the hand cart pullers ride e-auto rickshaw at Matheran.

“The hand-cart pulling is hazardous to the health of the pullers. E rickshaws are helpful for the students, senior citizens and also the pregnant women willing to go down from the hill station or going back to the hill station. Our demand is to end the hand cart pulling tradition and let the pullers ride the auto. But currently, the council has given contract to private agency and are denying the right of the cart pullers to ride the rickshaw,” Shinde said.

Meanwhile Rahul Ingle, Chief Officer of MHSMC, emphasised that they are not against hand cart pullers riding the e-rickshaw but as of now, the council is just following the court orders which is, ‘until further orders, we permit the state to continue the E-Rickshaw Pilot Project in the city of Matheran, Maharashtra.’

“The pilot project has been assigned to a project implementation agency under the guidance and directions of the court. We are just playing the role of keeping a check if the e-rickshaw as a system can work in Matheran. A Matheran Monitoring Committee (MMC) was formed to keep a tab on the pilot project. They had submitted the report to the court after the initial pilot project from December 5 2022 to March 4, 2023. Next date in the court is January 10,” Ingle said, adding, “The route of the e-rickshaw and the charges are same as that which was decided during the first pilot project. The route was from Dastoori naka to Matheran railway station and vice versa. The charges are ₹35 per person. Only for students, there is a concession and they are allowed to take till their school in the hill station. Citizens are the petitioners and they can ride the e-rickshaw once the PIL reaches its desired end as demanded by the petitioner.”

“The beauty of Matheran is that it has no vehicles and hence is different from the other hill stations. If e-rickshaws are made permanent here, soon people will start purchasing their own e-vehicles and even tourists with e-vehicles too might start demanding to take their vehicle up which is not acceptable. Neither does Matheran have enough parking space nor does it have a concrete road to have such vehicles. It is important petitioners consider all these points while insisting to get the e-vehicles here and the court too gives an order that does not spoil the balance of the eco system here,” said a horse rider from Matheran.