Maharashtra: Matheran locals raise red flag, as the three-month e-rickshaw trials begin

Transformation station: e-Rickshaws for trial

Wheels have joined hooves and heels as e-rickshaw trials have started in Matheran, the hill station where internal commuting is done on horseback, on foot or hand-pulled rickshaws.

In May, the Supreme Court green flagged e-rickshaws in Matheran, paving the way for three-month long trials. Locals and Matheran lovers are irked at the e-rickshaw dress rehearsal and bitter that one facet of this holiday hub - no vehicles allowed internally, giving it a unique character - is slipping away like the red mud of the station slips between one's fingers.

Also read: Maharashtra: Matheran's mini train may come back on track by 2022 end

Maria Vaz, owner and manager of Hope Hall Hotel, one of the oldest in Matheran, in an email dated July 27 to Tanmay Kumar (IAS) Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC) stated first up in her communication, that she trusted Kumar will intervene to save the Matheran eco-sensitive zone and protect livelihoods of residents.

Sorry state

Excerpts from Vaz's email said, "Politicians and bureaucrats have engineered a sad and sorry situation in Matheran. You would know that Matheran is the smallest, 7.25 sq. km in area and the only pedestrian hill station in Asia. The final nail in Matheran's coffin is the trial run for three months of e-rickshaws ordered by the Supreme Court. The electricity to run the environmentally friendly, non-polluting e-rickshaws is created by burning fossil fuels and the use of nuclear energy and their batteries when disposed of are an environmental risk."

Dr (PhD) Rohinton Mehta, co-author Matheran: A Mountaineering Manual

Vaz also pointed out that Matheran has frequent power failures at times, "from 9 am to 6 pm and on at least two occasions for three days on the trot." She also flagged danger to livelihoods of hand-pulled rickshaw wallahs and ghodawallahs.

Middle road

Adil Gandhy, a Matheran lover said, "We understand that this is the age of e-vehicles, although there are many negative factors about these too. Yet this is about understanding the meaning of ‘No Vehicles' not even bicycles, and the beauty and simplicity, the charm of the hill station, that comes from that."

Gandhy added, "There may be transport problems from Dasturi Naka to the station or bazaar. Maybe a middle path could be found with e-vans/tempos bringing material to the station from 11 pm to 5 am. In this way you do not disturb anybody, do not alter the ambience too much and solve the problem," he stated.

Mumbai's Dr (PhD) Rohinton Mehta, co-author of a book, Matheran: A Mountaineering Manual, claimed straight up, that "e-rickshaws will be an absolute disaster." Mehta added, "The red mud has disappeared and to ply e-rickshaws Matheran was paved with concrete paver blocks at huge expense, completely ruining the aesthetics and charm of the grand hill station.

This will be a blow to the livelihood of the hand-pulled rickshaw wallahs, too. There are barely 20 surviving of the 97 that were there earlier. There are 450 horses and mules in Matheran. There are 200 horses and 250 mules, with the latter carrying supplies to the station. These will be finished. What about the ghoda wallahs? How will they live?" Here, Gandhy interjected and said that he has been getting despairing calls from the horsemen of Matheran, pleading for somebody to save them.

Mehta sent the ‘e' for environment friendly argument cartwheeling out of the window as he said, "As a mountaineer, I know Matheran like the proverbial back of my hand. I have trekked through a myriad routes. Today, as I go up the valley and to the hill, I see plates, bottles, garbage tossed over by visitors. Believe me, in six months, trekkers will witness batteries used in these vehicles that need to be replaced after a few months. Has anybody given a thought to battery disposal? These will be thrown in the valley. The chemicals and metals from the batteries will go into the river. Overall, who is going to benefit? The local political bigwigs who are unable to even trek to the top of the hill station."

450
No of horses and mules in Matheran