By Sarah Cheema

Date:02-10-06

Source: Dawn

TIMES have changed. Lahore isn’t the same peaceful city it used to be 40 years ago. Enter Lahore and you are greeted by huge traffic jams, the clamour of motor vehicles that block the roads, immense pollution and smog that fills the air. Growing technologies have led to faster means of communication hence making traveling easier. One would think that’s a good thing and rightly so, but sadly it is making Lahore intolerable. Although, the need for a metropolis like Lahore would be a mass transit system, but still the existing means are able to carry on with the present loads.

Long gone are the days when the roads would be clean and noise free, a few cars would be seen on the roads and the primary means of transport would be the Tongas-for the ordinary people as well as the elite class. Nowadays seeing a tonga on the road is a rare sight. The ‘emperor’s sawari’ as it was popularly known is rapidly coming to its demise as it has more cultural value than functional amidst the fast moving vehicles that roam the roads. People need a faster means of travel and since the tonga is slow its customers are decreasing day by day. Firstly, it was the relegation of slow moving traffic to the innermost lanes and now the tonga can ply only on a few of the roads.

Amanat Ali has been a ‘coachwaan’ (probably a corruption of the English word coachman) for 16 years now. Although he says he’s 46, he looks much older; perhaps because of the many hardships he faces everyday in this business. His face clouds when asked why he thinks this profession is coming to a rapid end. He passionately explains his plight and tells how the government has taken a deliberate step to stop tongas on the streets as it feels they slow down traffic and make the roads dirty. It finds the tonga more of a nuisance than an asset. The government is encouraging rickshaws on the roads instead and has stopped issuing new licenses to the tongas and have only been renewing old ones.

On top of it, the increasing prices of fodder has added more problems for the poor tonga drivers. Amanat Ali makes around Rs 200 to 400 per day with Rs 150 going for the maintenance of the horse and its fodder. However, the availability of fodder is a problem on its own. It is not available in the main city. The tonga drivers have to travel to the suburbs to get it, which adds to the costs. This little amount that he makes everyday is not enough to support his large family and thus has kept a cow and sells the milk for some extra cash.

Moreover, the tonga drivers are strictly bound to renew their license each year which adds to another Rs 160 and the hassle of waiting in long lines outside the unorganized government offices. When asked about the attitude of the government officials, Amanat Ali has a lot to say about the traffic police. “They are there to mint money out of us poor people. They stop us even on the roads we are allowed to run on and find the smallest of the reasons to slap us with a fine.” The only passengers that sit on the tonga these days are the heavy sacks of cement Amanat Ali transports from one place to another as people prefer rickshaws and autos for prestige as well as a faster means of travel. “The people look down upon the tongas. They give preference to rickshaws and autos (motorcycle rickshaws) but little do they know that these autos are illegal. They haven’t as yet been approved by the Punjab government as they are unsafe and prone to accidents. Why is it that the government stops us from driving our tongas and don’t say anything to people who are driving illegal vehicles?” he adds.

The government has also demarked all the tonga stands that existed before making it difficult for tonga drivers to park their tongas. Amanat Ali complains that he has no space to park the horse and the cart at night. He has a cow in the house with his large family and it is already very crowded leaving him with no other option but to park it outside his house in the narrow alley. He has to bear the complaints of the neighbours as they say the horse makes a mess and congests the alley. Some people have even tried damaging the cart so that he could move it elsewhere. The landlord of the house has also threatened to throw them out if he continues to park his tonga outside but what is he to do? When asked what happened to the tonga stands that existed before, Amanat Ali says how the government has sold the land to make way for huge plazas and shopping centers.

Ten years ago there would also be free checkups of horses supported by the government but that too has stopped. Veterinary hospitals are of no help either; Amanat Ali says “Last year my horse got sick. With great difficulty I took it too the veterinary hospital but over there no one was ready to listen to me. They wanted extra money if I wanted my turn faster. I don’t have money to feed myself, how can I offer them extra money?” Amanat Ali has four young children. One of them has recently started school, the other three are small. “I want to educate them. Even my daughter,” he says proudly. “I wouldn’t want them to suffer the way I do. Therefore I want to send them to school no matter what. I sometimes take my eldest son along on a tonga ride, he enjoys it a lot but I wouldn’t want him to be a tongawaala like me, I want him to become a doctor and serve the poor”.

The question however remains that will the tongas remain or will they become extinct? Amanat Ali answers the question by simply saying “If this is the way the government is going to behave towards us then indeed, this profession will die, burying with itself centuries of culture”. Sad buttrue.

Done with the interview, Amanat Ali climbs the driving seat. With his head up high he makes his way in the scorching sun looking for passengers so that he can feed his children who anxiously await his return.