Also ran | When a city threw together a ‘fish cart’

Fish carts, legally banned in Chennai, are a great example of jugaad. Evolved from cycle rickshaws, they are powered by low-powered two-wheeler engines, later replaced by powerful ones. Despite the ban, a few hundred carts remain, used to transport tuna fish or dispose of wasted fish. They are convenient for quick shuttling in narrow areas.

As one takes a right from Ennore Express Road towards Kasimedu Fish Market, it is easy to spot a group of motorised fish carts parked with a bunch of their owners indulging in friendly banter.

If one approaches and starts a conversation with them about their vehicles, however, they will become a little wary, for the vehicles on which their livelihoods depend are legally banned from plying on the city’s roads.

Colloquially called the meen baadi vandi, the motorised fish carts are a great example of jugaad. They evolved from cycle rickshaws through continuous engineering alterations in the smaller workshops of north Madras over the years to primarily meet the needs of the fishing community in transporting cargo.

Rajendran*, who owns a fish cart, says the transformation from a hand-pulled or pedalled cart started with the installation of a low-powered two-wheeler engine. “Their power was so low that in bridges we had to push them,” he says. Gradually, the low-powered engines gave way for powerful ones. “Engines from bike models like Rajdoot and Chetak were more popular,” he says.

Rajasekar*, another cart owner, says while the alterations increased the carts’ power, the rudimentary brakes they used were not effective in controlling the vehicles if they sped up. This resulted in many road accidents involving these carts, which eventually led to the Madras High Court banning the vehicles based on a public interest litigation petition filed by activist ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy.

“If an automobile company helped us in designing better brakes, and if the government was willing to register the vehicles with some regulations, the ban need not have happened,” says Mr. Rajasekar, adding that they used the vehicle predominantly inside the Kasimedu area, avoiding the main roads.

There is a tendency to underplay the numbers and importance of these carts. While many vehicles could be easily spotted in the area, Mr. Rajendran says only few tens of vehicles were plying in Kasimedu. “Trucks and mini-trucks have largely replaced us. A few of us still remain. Boat owners use us mainly to transport tuna fish, which are exported, or to dispose of unsaleable fish,” he says.