Bangladesh rickshaws get modern makeover

The backbreaking job of pedalling a rickshaw in Bangladesh could soon be history with a local company saying it has come up with battery-powered, rechargeable cycles.Bangladesh Diesel Plant, an agricultural farm tool manufacturer owned by the country's powerful army, says it has created an electric rickshaw and plans to launch it by the end of the year.The head of the project, Major Abdullah Al Mahmud, told AFP the new rickshaw was a novel way of easing Dhaka's traffic woes, without hurting the income of those who earn their living by carrying passengers around town.

There are an estimated one million cycle rickshaws in Bangladesh. Half of those are in the capital Dhaka, and are often blamed for its severe traffic jams, reputed to be the worst in South Asia.

The three-wheelers -- still the cheapest and sometimes only mode of transport that can navigate Dhaka's narrow alleys -- are a vital source of income for many in the impoverished country.

However, the physically gruelling work is often criticised by rights groups as inhumane. But several attempts to eliminate rickshaws from Bangladesh have come to nothing.

Most drivers seen on the streets of Dhaka have legs of steel: they work at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week to earn a daily wage of between 150 and 200 taka (two and three dollars).

Rickshaw riders normally rent their vehicles from garage owners, who own fleets of up to 200.

Mahmud said the garages would be equipped to deal with repairs on site.

In 2004, the World Bank aborted a lending project to phase out rickshaws from Dhaka's main roads after a study showed that it would severely hit the migrants who come to the capital to escape destitution in the countryside