Butwal, Apr.20:New traffic rules coupled with people’s growing attraction towards taxies have posed uncertainty to the future of more than five thousand rickshaw-pullers in this town.

The traffic police have introduced a compulsory license system for the rickshaw pullers saying that the step was taken to control the rising road accidents.

The new provision of license was introduced to curb the road accidents and to make the rickshaw puller more responsible, the traffic police sources say.

Similarly, the Butwal Municipality has stopped the registration of new rickshaws citing that the excessive growth of the vehicles has caused road congestion.

The new registration was stopped since number of rickshaws is comparatively greater than their users in the town, the Municipalities sources say.

The rickshaw pullers say that the growing tendency of the public to use taxies and tempos (three wheelers) has worsened the situation adversely affecting the only source of their livelihood. This caused a great reduction in their income, they say.

“My earning has come down from 150 rupees in the past to less than 50 rupees now,” says Phirta Kewat of Motipur in Kapilvastu district.

There are 30 taxies and 20 tempos operating in the locality.