or 65-year-old Appanna, a cycle rickshaw puller in the Old Town area of the city, life has been a bitter existence since last two decades, as rickshaws have lost their patronage. He is the third generation rickshaw puller and barely makes Rs. 30 a day. Both his sons have turned auto-rickshaw drivers and have deserted him.
His only source of subsistence is the schoolchildren whom he drops and brings back from the school.
The same is the case for the 30-odd cycle rickshaw pullers, whose area of operation is limited to a few streets in the Old Town area.
“At one time we ruled all the streets in the city. Right from the Railway Station to the Port area and from Beach Road to Kotaveedhi,” says 55-year-old Apparao. But today, demand has dwindled and daily existence has become difficult.
“My father knew about six languages, which included a foreign language. Apart from the native tongue of Telugu, he knew Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Urdu and a bit of Japanese. In those days many Japanese and other foreign ships used to come to the outer and inner harbour and the sailors would use the rickshaw services to go around the city. Talking to them he picked up a bit of English and Japanese,” said Appanna.
Keeping their plight in the mind, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) intends to use their services for the upcoming International Fleet Review (IFR).
Almost all the cycle-rickshaws are in rickety condition and the GVMC intends to spend about Rs. 4,000 to 5,000 each to refurbish them.
Old Town is the oldest part of the port city and there are quite a few edifices that have historical significance such as the Town Hall, Taluk Office, Victoria Statue, Kurupam Market, Vizagapatam Cemetery, St. John’s Church, Queen Mary School, Isakh Dargah, Ross Hill, St. Peter’s Church, the lighthouse and St. Aloysius High School.
It is learnt that the GVMC has received about Rs. 60 crore from the World Bank for the renovation of old heritage structures and GVMC Commissioner Pravin Kumar has promised to divert some of the funds to refurbish the structures in the Old Town before the IFR, which will be held from February 4 to 8.
Plans are afoot to include the heritage structures of the Old Town in the tourism agenda for the IFR. And in such a scenario, the cycle rickshaw pullers have a role to play. Their rickshaws will be repaired and renovated and the pullers will be given orientation to take the tourists around the spots. Such a theme is prevalent in the Central Park at Manhattan in New York. The idea is to replicate it, so that the cycle rickshaw puller can benefit, says the Commissioner.
Once we ruled all the streets in the city. Now, daily existence has become difficult for us.
Apparao
A rickshaw puller
