No more tongas in Delhi roads

Tongas, the horse-drawn carriages still much in use in the walled city of Delhi, will be phased out soon with the civic authorities unveiling a rehabilitation policy for their owners today.

Under the policy, which got the nod of MCD Standing Committee today, more than 230 tonga-drivers will be given alternative employment and the carriages will be banned — a move the MCD says will help ease traffic woes in the heavily congested area and prevent cruelty to animals.

Tongas, driven by horses, mules or ponies, are used for ferrying passengers and carrying load in Sadar Bazar and Chandni Chowk areas of old Delhi.

Under the scheme, 170 tonga owners, holding single licences in their names, will be provided 6 feet/4 feet open to sky tehbazari (vending) sites. The benefit of the scheme is also being extended to a maximum of three family members of those tonga owners who have more than one licenses.

According to the provisions, 37 tonga owners will get financial assistance for purchase for CNG goods carriages. They will be given Rs53,000 or one-third of the total cost of the vehicle, former standing committee chairman Vijender Gupta told reporters. For 26 unlicensed vendors, Rs40,000 or one-fourth of total cost of vehicle will be given, he said.

"The MCD will spend Rs30 lakh for the rehabilitation scheme," Standing Committee chairman RK Singhal said. The tonga owners union has been consulted and it has agreed to avail the benefits of the policy, he said.

For the tonga-owners holding more than one license within a family, the financial assistance of Rs 53,000 will be given to each applicant.

"The Standing Committee had on September 2008 passed a resolution for banning tongas, to help ease the traffic congestion in old Delhi," said Gupta, who was the chairman of the committee then. 

He said all tonga-owners will be rehabilitated by January next year.