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The Last Ride: If the civic body has its way, Delhi may soon los a slice of its heritage - the tongaBy Sumit Kumar, Section History of Delhi
A fter 370 years, Delhi's slow, creaky but iconic one-horse cart, the tonga, is about to clip-clop into history, a victim of our city's growth surge.
Some say tongas were brought to Delhi by Mughal emperor Shahjahan when he shifted his capital from Agra to Shahaja hanabad, as the city was called then, in 1638. The tonga is still popular in parts of the old city but the Municipal Cor , poration of Delhi says it is "out-of-sync with modern life and therefore must go".   "We are planning to phase out tongas to streamline Delhi's transportation system," said Vijendra Gupta, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. "To start with, the tonga stand near the Civic Centre at Minto road (one of the biggest in Delhi) will be removed." "There are various modes of transportation available and tongas create un wanted congestion and take up a lot of space on the roads," said Gupta. The civic agency will first find out how many tongas roam the Capital and "phase them out in a time-bound manner", said Gupta. Tonga drivers will be rehabilitated, he said. Click on "Full Story" for more...
Many Delhiites have fond memories of the tonga. "We went to school in a tonga. I will still prefer a tonga to a motorised vehicle. It has that nostalgic value," said Sunita Singh, who lived in Sitaram Bazar of Old Delhi.
Ashok Chauhan, an adver tiser, said: "Tongas are part our heritage. They should not be phased out." In a frenetic city logjammed with growing numbers of cars, buses, autos and now metro lines, the tonga count is declining. In the 1970s, there were nearly 3,500 tongas; that's down to 100, said Gupta. The tonga is mentioned in the tax list of the MCD. That means owners must pay tax. The civic body has, however, decided to preserve this slice of Delhi's heritage by offering joy rides, like the Victorias on Marine Drive in Mumbai. "We will also identify certain stretches where tonga rides can be provided to the people," said Gupta. Source: Neelam Pandey Hindustan Times, July-21-2008
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