E-Rickshaws in Matheran - Tilting in Favour of Environment

In this article, Gajanan Khergamker examines the conundrum that has been surrounding the introduction of e-rickshaws in Matheran, a hill station in Maharashtra. The author feels that whatever is best in the interests of everyone should be done because after all, it’s the human whose interest is paramount in any developed society.

- Gajanan Khergamker

Matheran’s prized possession, exclusivity, has—over the years—turned into its biggest scourge. The hill station that thrived on exclusivity of reach and access triggered by the inability to use any other motorable transport service other than horse or hand-pulled rickshaws to retain its fragile ecosystem and an image to boot is now struggling to provide… easy access.

Residents of the hill station have grown and with them have their aspirations. With time being the first casualty with development, Matheran’s locals find themselves deprived of just that and ease in access. With the exclusion of an Ambulance and a Fire Engine in case of casualty, locals and tourists alike are unable to use any vehicle and depend entirely on horses or hand-pulled rickshaws to reach the hill station from a 2.5 km distance at Dasturi Naka and within the table-top tourist zone.

So, it was inevitable for Matheran to join the all-electric green bandwagon that aims to resolve the issue of transport, access and reach without harming the environment. A much-awaited three-month-long E-Rickshaw trial was kickstarted on December 5, 2022 after an arduous journey. For those driven: it was not an easy one but a fulfilling one at that.

It is not short of a tightrope walk for those keen on maintaining a balance at eco-fragile zones like Matheran whose residents struggle without basic amenities and means solely to continue to qualify for the ‘eco-friendly tag’ associated with Asia’s only non-motorable hill station.