Vijayawada sources have stated that the brightly colored common man's vehicle, Vijayawada rickshaw, which earned the city the name of second Kolkata in India, is being overtaken by autos. Meanwhile most of the rickshaw pullers are turning into coolies with autos becoming the common mode of travel.
Moreover rickshaw, which does not cause any pollution, was the vehicle used by the middle class to ply short distances in the city and there were around 30,000 rickshaws in the city, 24 years ago. By the 90's, the number dwindled to half. Further cars and taxis entered the scene and soon the people began travelling in auto rickshaws. Moreover around 30 unions of rickshaw pullers are now extinct.
According to one of the
rickshaw pullers, there used to be around 40 rickshaw stands with each of them
having 20 to 40 vehicles parked to serve the commuters in the city. According
to sources the major rickshaw stands used to be at the bus station,
Kaleswararao market, railway station, Hotel Ilapuram, Vijay Talkies,
Kotthevantena, Bombay Gate centres, Krishna Lanka and Auto Nagar.
