Bangladesh rickshaws get modern makeover

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

DHAKA (AFP) — 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.

"It will revolutionise rickshaws in the country, without changing the very shape and size of the age-old colourful vehicle that has become part of our history and culture," he...