WorldWideScience

Sample records for rickshaws

  1. Qing-Qi Rickshaw : A Boon Or Bane For Public Transportation? A Study Of Road Traffic Injury Patterns Involving Qing-Qi Rickshaws In Karachi Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muzzammil, Muhammad; Minhas, Muhammad Saeed; Effendi, Jahanzeb; Jahanzeb, Syed; Mughal, Ayesha; Qadir, Abdul

    2017-01-01

    The three-wheeler Qing-qi and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) auto-rickshaws were introduced in Karachi to meet the transportation demand of the growing population. These vehicles have directly or indirectly been implicated in a number of road traffic violations as well as road accidents. This study aims to describe the crash characteristics and injury patterns for Qing-qi rickshaw occupants and other road users hit by Qing-qi rickshaw in Karachi, Pakistan. An Observational/ Descriptive study was conducted at Accident & Emergency and Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi Pakistan from July 2014 to June 2015.All patients who came with Qing-qi rickshaw accident in Accident & Emergency (A&E) of JPMC were included. Crash characteristics, details of injuries, injury severity parameters and outcome were documented in detailed interviews. Four hundred and eighty-six rickshaw related injuries were noted in road traffic accidents by Qing-gi rickshaw. Age range was 2-85 (43.5±58.68). 350 injured victims were males and 136 were females. By occupation most victims were laborers and daily wage workers (45%) and students (21%). Overloading of vehicle with more than two passengers was found in (28.5%). The most common cause of injury was collision with a moving vehicle (56%), followed by fall from rickshaw. The most common contributing factor was the overloading of rickshaw and roll over on turning (61%). Injury severity on arrival were mild (49%), moderate were (32%), and severe were (19%). Injuries related to head and neck (26%), face (14%), thorax and abdomen (5%), lower extremity and pelvic girdle (31%) and upper extremity (23%) were observed. Qing-qi rickshaw injuries are common and these vehicles are vulnerable to road traffic accidents. Occupants and road users are both at risk of injuries.

  2. Health and Social Security Needs of Rickshaw Pullers in Ranchi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Anant; Thomas, Joe; Wadhwa, Sonal S; Mishra, Aprajita; Dasgupta, Smita

    2016-07-01

    A significant number of "marginalized" population groups are denied their health rights, healthcare access, benefits of government health programs, and other health-related social security benefits. These population groups, particularly the rickshaw pullers of India, are vulnerable because of their poor social and economic status, migration history, lack of permanent settlements, lack of social capital, and so on. These reasons, coupled with other social-political reasons, lead to no or limited access to health services and poor health conditions. This study intends to explore and understand the context and health seeking behavior of rickshaw pullers in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand state in India, with special reference to wider social determinants of health such as, access, affordability, and delivery of health services. The data was collected from 1,000 rickshaw pullers from 40 "rickshaw garages" in Ranchi. The findings of the study show that rickshaw pullers can't afford to "attach" much importance to their health due to various reasons and suffer from a variety of occupational and other illnesses. The health conditions of the rickshaw pullers are affected by poverty, negligence, illiteracy, lack of awareness and unavailability of affordable, quality health services. These are only a symptom of the larger structural issues affecting health. The study suggests that rickshaw pullers, being a marginalized and excluded population group, require special health and social security programs that include safe, affordable, and accessible services along with a special focus on health education, behavior change, and promotion of appropriate health-seeking behavior.

  3. Development of emission factors for motorcycles and shared auto-rickshaws using real-world driving cycle for a typical Indian city.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adak, Prasenjit; Sahu, Ravi; Elumalai, Suresh Pandian

    2016-02-15

    Vehicular emission is one of the most important contributors of urban air pollution. To quantify the impact of traffic on urban air quality, it is necessary to quantify vehicular emission. In many cities of India, such as Dhanbad, shared auto-rickshaw is the pre-dominant mode of transportation. Indian Driving Cycle (IDC) and Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC) are used for emission testing of motorcycles, shared auto-rickshaws and passenger cars in India for regulatory purposes. IDC used for motorcycles and shared auto-rickshaws does not recognize the difference in two vehicle classes in terms of driving pattern. In real world, shared auto-rickshaws, behave differently than motorcycles. To quantify the impact of shared auto-rickshaws on urban air quality accurately, emission factors (EFs) are required to derive from real-world driving cycles (DCs). In heterogeneous traffic, vehicles of one class affect the behavior of vehicles of other classes. To estimate the emissions from different vehicle classes accurately, EFs for motorcycles and passenger cars are also required to be revised. In this study, real-world DCs were developed for motorcycles, shared auto-rickshaws and passenger cars in Dhanbad. Developed DCs were used to calculate EFs for respective classes. Shared auto-rickshaws were found to have the highest deviation from EFs derived using IDC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Accidental cut-throat injuries from the broken windshield of an auto rickshaw: Two unusual cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swain, Rajanikanta; Dhaka, Shivani; Sharma, Munish; Bakshi, Mantaran Singh; Murty, O P; Sikary, Asit Kumar

    2018-01-01

    Accidental cut-throat injuries are extremely rare and usually involve a sharp-edged weapon. In this paper, two cases of a cut-throat wound to two auto-rickshaw drivers are presented where the broken windshield of the auto-rickshaws was responsible for the wounds. In both the cases, fatal incised wounds were present over the neck, cutting the soft tissue along with the major vessels. The death occurred due to exsanguination caused by neck-vessel injury in one case and trachea along with neck-vessel injury in the second case. Although the wounds on the neck initially suggested homicide, they were found to have occurred accidentally as a result of a road traffic accident involving a head-on collision of auto rickshaws. The injuries were inflicted by the shattered glass of the windshield.

  5. Appraisal of auto-rickshaw as poverty alleviation strategy in Nigeria ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study examines the use of auto-rickshaw (three - wheeled cycle) as poverty alleviation scheme in metropolitan areas of Lagos state Nigeria, with the aim of exploring the significance of the scheme in solving beneficiaries' financial challenges. Data were obtained from secondary and primary sources. 200 structured ...

  6. HIV-related risk behaviours and the correlates among rickshaw pullers of Kamrangirchar, Dhaka, Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study using probability sampling

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    Ravari Shahrzad

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background National HIV serological and behavioural surveillance of Bangladesh repeatedly demonstrated a very high proportion of rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city, having sex with female sex workers (FSWs and using illicit substances. However, no study has been conducted to identify the correlates of having sex with FSWs among this population. This study aimed to describe behavioural profile of rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city using probability samples and to identify the correlates for having sex with FSWs in order to focus HIV prevention intervention. Methods Six hundred rickshaw pullers were randomly selected from rickshaw garages in the Kamrangirchar area, the single largest slum cluster of Dhaka, Bangladesh, during March–April 2008 using the Proportion Probability to Size method. Participants were interviewed, with a response rate of 99.2% (n = 595, using a structured questionnaire and asked about illicit substance use, sexual behaviour and risk perception for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. Independent predictors of having sex with FSWs were analysed by multivariate analysis. A qualitative study was subsequently conducted with 30 rickshaw pullers to supplement the findings of the initial survey. Results The proportion of survey respondents who had sex with FSWs and those who used illicit substances in the previous 12 months period were 7.9% and 24.9%, respectively, much lower than the results achieved in the 2003–04 behavioural surveillance (72.8% and 89.9%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed the characteristics of younger age, being never married, living alone with family remaining in other districts and using illicit substances in the previous 12 months were significantly associated with having sex with FSWs. Conclusion HIV-related risk behaviour of our study population of the rickshaw pullers was lower than what has been suggested by the results of behavioural surveillance. While this discrepancy should be

  7. Production of liquid fuels and chemicals from pyrolysis of Bangladeshi bicycle/rickshaw tire wastes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Islam, M. Rofiqul; Tushar, M.S.H.K. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi 6204 (Bangladesh); Haniu, H. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kitami Institute of Technology, Kitami City, Hokkaido 090-8507 (Japan)

    2008-05-15

    Tire wastes in the form of used bicycle/rickshaw tires available in Bangladesh were pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed fire-tube heating reactor under different pyrolysis conditions to determine the role of final temperature, sweeping gas flow rate and feed size on the product yields and liquid product composition. Final temperature range studied was between 375 and 575 C and the highest liquid product yield was obtained at 475 C. Liquid products obtained under the most suitable conditions were characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR, {sup 1}H NMR and GC-MS techniques. The results show that it is possible to obtain liquid products that are comparable to petroleum fuels and valuable chemical feedstock from bicycle/rickshaw tire wastes if the pyrolysis conditions are chosen accordingly. (author)

  8. A Sepic Type Switched Mode Power Supply System For Battery Charging In An Electric Tricycle Auto-Rickshaw

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    Kureve

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the plug-in electric tricycle Auto rickshaw battery charging system using a non-isolated DC-DC SEPIC converter which operates as a switched mode power supply SMPS. The control of dc voltage output is by varying the gating pulses duty cycle of the switch in the dc-dc converter using PID controller based PWM technique. The 60 V 30 A DC-DC SEPIC converter is designed to provide non-inverting voltage buck from the rectified AC mains for charging deep cycle battery bank in an electric auto rickshaw. The charger system is implemented using MATLABSimulink.

  9. Sustainable urban development? An analysis of fuel innovation in the auto-rickshaw sector in Bangalore and Hyderabad

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baud, I.S.A.; Bokhorst, J.R.; van de Loo, T.J.C.; Quaedvlieg, J.G.J.; Rothuizen, J.V.; Tulleners, B.A.W.

    2010-01-01

    This article deals with the question of what contributions fuel transitions can make to more sustainable development in urban areas in India. A major sector of private collective transportation is studied—the auto-rickshaw sector, in which a private sector-led transition to gas has taken place. The

  10. Modeling air pollutant emissions from Indian auto-rickshaws: Model development and implications for fleet emission rate estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grieshop, Andrew P.; Boland, Daniel; Reynolds, Conor C. O.; Gouge, Brian; Apte, Joshua S.; Rogak, Steven N.; Kandlikar, Milind

    2012-04-01

    Chassis dynamometer tests were conducted on 40 Indian auto-rickshaws with 3 different fuel-engine combinations operating on the Indian Drive Cycle (IDC). Second-by-second (1 Hz) data were collected and used to develop velocity-acceleration look-up table models for fuel consumption and emissions of CO2, CO, total hydrocarbons (THC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for each fuel-engine combination. Models were constructed based on group-average vehicle activity and emissions data in order to represent the performance of a 'typical' vehicle. The models accurately estimated full-cycle emissions for most species, though pollutants with more variable emission rates (e.g., PM2.5) were associated with larger errors. Vehicle emissions data showed large variability for single vehicles ('intra-vehicle variability') and within the test group ('inter-vehicle variability'), complicating the development of a single model to represent a vehicle population. To evaluate the impact of this variability, sensitivity analyses were conducted using vehicle activity data other than the IDC as model input. Inter-vehicle variability dominated the uncertainty in vehicle emission modeling. 'Leave-one-out' analyses indicated that the model outputs were relatively insensitive to the specific sample of vehicles and that the vehicle samples were likely a reasonable representation of the Delhi fleet. Intra-vehicle variability in emissions was also substantial, though had a relatively minor impact on model performance. The models were used to assess whether the IDC, used for emission factor development in India, accurately represents emissions from on-road driving. Modeling based on Global Positioning System (GPS) activity data from real-world auto-rickshaws suggests that, relative to on-road vehicles in Delhi, the IDC systematically under-estimates fuel use and emissions; real-word auto-rickshaws consume 15% more fuel and emit 49% more THC and 16% more PM2.5. The models

  11. THE PREVALENCE OF MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH RISK FACTORS IN AUTO RICKSHAW DRIVERS - A SURVEY IN GUNTUR CITY

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    Rahul Shaik

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Musculoskeletal disorders represent largest category of work related illness in India. Variety of internal and external factors leads to postural stress in vehicle drivers that affects the functioning of musculoskeletal system. Vibration, studied extensively among various risk factors causing musculoskeletal disorders. Hence, the current study focused on various risk factors. Objectives: To know the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and their association with possible risk factors in auto rickshaw drivers. Investigation Tools: Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMSQ, inch tape, vibrometer. Methodology: NMSQ has been used to document prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in 300 subjects. Vibrometer and inch tape were used to measure risk factors like driver’s seat vibration and work space envelope (shoulder to handle distance, lower cabin space. Associations with risk factors were analyzed by logistic regression. Results: Work experience and working hours per week showed a significant positive association with knee problems (p=0.009, p=0.006 respectively. Shoulder to handle distance on right side showed significant negative association with knee problems (p=0.013. Driver’s seat vibration showed strong significant positive association with low backache (p=0.000. No variable showed significant association with neck troubles. Working experience and lower cabin space are significantly associated with ankle problems (p=0.012, p=0.045 respectively.Age, work experience and shoulder to handle distance on left side showed significant positive association with general musculoskeletal troubles (p=0.029, p= 0.005, p=0.045 respectively. Conclusion: Lower back, knee, neck and ankle troubles are more prevalent in auto rickshaw drivers. Increasing age, work experience, maximum working hours per week, increased left shoulder to handle distance and greater driver’s seat vibrations are increasing the risk of musculoskeletal

  12. A Qualitative Study on Men’s Involvement in Reproductive Health of Women among Auto-rickshaw Drivers in Bangalore Rural

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    Vaishali S. Gaikwad

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Background: Men’s reproductive health directly affects the partner’s reproductive health. Men also may serve as gatekeepers to women’s access to reproductive health services. “Male involvement” in reproductive health and family planning programmes is not just promoting the use of male methods of contraception, but men’s supportive roles in their families. Objectives: 1. To know the attitudes of men regarding the family planning and women’s health. 2. To know the involvement and participation of men in maternity, delivery, post-natal care and family planning. 3. To study the treatment seeking behaviour of men for the reproductive health. problems. Methods: The study was conducted on the auto-rickshaw drivers in the Hoskote town. Total 96 married men were interviewed using a well-designed and pretested questionnaire. The aspects covered are awareness and practices related to RTIs/STIs/HIV/AIDS, family planning, antenatal care and treatment seeking behaviour for the reproductive health problems. Results: Majority (62.50% of the men did not help their wives seek antenatal care. Only few 7(7.29% were aware of parameters of antenatal care. There were 44 (45.83% men who reported the symptoms of reproductive tract infections (RTIs. Among the men suffering from RTIs, only 32(72.73% took treatment. Only 6(6.25% people were aware of the all family planning methods. There were 39 (40.63% participants having extramarital sexual relations with prostitutes or other females, of which 25(64.10% people do not use condoms while engaging in the high risk sexual encounters. There were 34 (35.42% men not aware of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: Antenatal care and family planning are considered the primary responsibility of the women. Also majority of the men in the study group have high risk sexual behaviour. The awareness regarding HIV/AIDS is low.

  13. Excessive sleepiness prevalence in public transportation drivers of a developing country.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Risco, Jorge; Ruiz, Paulo; Mariños, Alejandro; Juarez, Alan; Ramos, Mariana; Salmavides, Frine; Vega, Johann; Kruger, Hever; Vizcarra, Darwin

    2013-01-01

    To determine the prevalence of excessive sleepiness (ES) in bus and auto-rickshaw drivers from Lima, Peru. We conducted a cross-sectional study of Lima's bus and auto-rickshaw drivers to estimate ES prevalence in this population. Survey sites were private transportation companies, systematically selected with a snowball approach. ES was assessed with the Spanish-validated version of the Epworth sleep questionnaire (ESQ) with a cutoff score >10. We obtained relevant demographic information. Four hundred and thirty-four bus and auto-rickshaw drivers were eligible for analysis. The overall ES prevalence was 32.7 percent (95% confidence interval [CI]: 28-37.2). ES prevalence was higher in bus drivers than in auto-rickshaw drivers, 38 percent (95% CI: 31.7-44.2) and 26.9 percent (95% CI: 20.6-33.1), respectively (P = .01). We used data from all subjects to obtain regression equations for ESQ score with several predictors. Being a bus driver, working additional nighttime hours per week, having depression or anxiety, and alcohol abuse had small but significant associations with ESQ scores. ES prevalence in Lima's public transportation drivers is in a medium range as suggested by previous regional studies.

  14. MRI and neuropathological validations of the involvement of air pollutants in cortical selective neuronal loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ejaz, Sohail; Anwar, Khaleeq; Ashraf, Muhammad

    2014-03-01

    Vehicles are a major source of air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM) pollution, throughout the world and auto-rickshaws are considered main contributors to this air pollution. PM, in addition to causing respiratory and cardiovascular disorders, has potential to gain access to the brain and could induce neuroinflammation leading to different neurological disorders. Therefore, in the current project, MRI and immunohistochemistry techniques were adopted to ascertain the neurotoxic potential of the chronic exposure to different PM generated by two-stroke auto-rickshaws (TSA), four-stroke auto-rickshaws (FSA), and aluminum sulfate (AS) solution in rats. The results highlighted that all treated groups followed a pattern of dose-dependent increase in pure cortical neuronal loss, selective neuronal loss (SNL), nuclear pyknosis, karyolysis, and karyorrhexis. Mild to moderate areas of penumbra were also observed with increase in the population of activated microglia and astrocytes, while no alteration in the intensities of T2W MRI signals was perceived in any group. When comparing the findings, TSA possess more neurotoxic potential than FSA and AS, which could be associated with increased concentration of certain elements in TSA emissions. The study concludes that chronic exposure to PM from TSA, FSA, and AS solutions produces diverse neuropathies in the brain, which may lead to different life-threatening neurological disorders like stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disorders. Government and environmental agencies should take serious notice of this alarming situation, and immediate steps should be implemented to improve the standards of PM emissions from auto-rickshaws.

  15. Financial and Performance Analyses of Microcontroller Based Solar-Powered Autorickshaw for a Developing Country

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    Abu Raihan Mohammad Siddique

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a case study to examine the economic viability and performance analysis of a microcontroller based solar powered battery operated autorickshaw (m-SBAR, for the developing countries, which is compared with different types of rickshaws such as pedal rickshaw (PR, battery operated autorickshaw (BAR, and solar-powered battery operated autorickshaw (SBAR, available in Bangladesh. The BAR consists of a rickshaw structure, a battery bank, a battery charge controller, a DC motor driver, and a DC motor whereas the proposed m-SBAR contains additional components like solar panel and microcontroller based DC motor driver. The complete design considered the local radiation data and load profile of the proposed m-SBAR. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE analysis, Net Present Worth, payback periods, and Benefit-to-Cost Ratio methods have been used to evaluate the financial feasibility and sensitivity analysis of m-SBAR, grid-powered BAR, and PR. The numerical analysis reveals that LCOE and Benefit-to-Cost Ratio of the proposed m-SBAR are lower compared to the grid-powered BAR. It has also been found that microcontroller based DC motor control circuit reduces battery discharge rate, improves battery life, and controls motor speed efficiency.

  16. Modelling modal shift due to the enhanced level of bus service

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    P. Vedagiri

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available This study is concerned with the estimation of the probable shift of auto-rickshaw (three wheeled motorized para-transit vehicle users to the bus due to an increase in its level of service after providing exclusive bus lanes on Indian city roads carrying heterogeneous traffic. The quantum of an increase in the level of bus service due to the introduction of an exclusive bus lane was determined using a recently developed simulation model of heterogeneous traffic flow. The data on other factors (variables that might cause modal shift from the auto-rickshaw to the bus was collected conducting a home-interview survey based on the stated preference approach. A binary logit model of mode-choice was then calibrated using the collected data and the model was also validated using a holdout sample. A mode-choice probability curve to depict the possible shift of auto-rickshaw users to the bus is developed taking difference in the travel times of two-modes as the basis to serve as a user friendly tool to analyze the possible modal shift for a wide range of the values of the involved variables.

  17. Cytotoxic, phytotoxic, and mutagenic appraisal to ascertain toxicological potential of particulate matter emitted from automobiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anwar, Khaleeq; Ejaz, Sohail; Ashraf, Muhammad; Altaf, Imran; Anjum, Aftab Ahmad

    2013-07-01

    Vehicular air pollution is a mounting health issue of the modern age, particularly in urban populations of the developing nations. Auto-rickshaws are not considered eco-friendly as to their inefficient engines producing large amount of particulate matter (PM), thus posing significant environmental threat. The present study was conducted to ascertain the cytotoxic, phytotoxic, and mutagenic potential of PM from gasoline-powered two-stroke auto-rickshaws (TSA) and compressed natural gas-powered four-stroke auto-rickshaws (FSA). Based on the increased amount of aluminum quantified during proton-induced X-ray emission analysis of PM from TSA and FSA, different concentrations of aluminum sulfate were also tested to determine its eco-toxicological potential. The MTT assay demonstrated significant (p < 0.001) dose-dependent cytotoxic effects of different concentrations of TSA, FSA, and aluminum sulfate on BHK-21 cell line. LC50 of TSA, FSA, and aluminum sulfate was quantified at 16, 11, and 23.8 μg/ml, respectively, establishing PM from FSA, a highly cytotoxic material. In case of phytotoxicity screening using Zea mays, the results demonstrated that all three tested materials were equally phytotoxic at higher concentrations producing significant reduction (p < 0.001) in seed germination. Aluminum sulfate proved to be a highly phytotoxic agent even at its lowest concentration. Mutagenicity was assessed by fluctuation Salmonella reverse mutation assay adopting TA100 and TA98 mutant strains with (+S9) and without (-S9) metabolic activation. Despite the fact that different concentrations of PM from both sources, i.e., TSA and FSA were highly mutagenic (p < 0.001) even at lower concentrations, the mutagenic index was higher in TSA. Data advocate that all tested materials are equally ecotoxic, and if the existing trend of atmospheric pollution by auto-rickshaws is continued, airborne heavy metals will seriously affect the normal growth of local inhabitants and

  18. On the combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing for automated structure determination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panjikar, Santosh; Parthasarathy, Venkataraman; Lamzin, Victor S.; Weiss, Manfred S.; Tucker, Paul A.

    2009-01-01

    The combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction improves the performance of automated structure determination with Auto-Rickshaw. A combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing has been incorporated into the automated structure-determination platform Auto-Rickshaw. The complete MRSAD procedure includes molecular replacement, model refinement, experimental phasing, phase improvement and automated model building. The improvement over the standard SAD or MR approaches is illustrated by ten test cases taken from the JCSG diffraction data-set database. Poor MR or SAD phases with phase errors larger than 70° can be improved using the described procedure and a large fraction of the model can be determined in a purely automatic manner from X-ray data extending to better than 2.6 Å resolution

  19. Effects of occupational illness on labor productivity: A socioeconomic aspect of informal sector workers in urban Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarker, Abdur Razzaque; Sultana, Marufa; Mahumud, Rashidul Alam; Ahmed, Sayem; Ahmed, Mohammad Wahid; Hoque, Mohammad Enamul; Islam, Ziaul; Gazi, Rukhsana; Khan, Jahangir A M

    2016-05-25

    The informal sector is the dominant area of employment and the economy for any developing country including Bangladesh. The cost of productivity loss due to absence from work or presenteeism with illness has rarely been examined in the Bangladesh context. This current study, therefore, attempted to examine the impact of ill health of informal sector workers on labor productivity, future earning, and healthcare-related expenditure. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among three occupational groups of informal workers (rickshaw pullers, shopkeepers and restaurant workers) that were generally found in all urban areas in Bangladesh. A total of 557 informal workers were surveyed for this study. Most of the respondents (57%) reported that they had been affected by some type of illness for the last six months. The overall average healthcare expenditure of informal workers was US$48.34, while restaurant workers expended more (US$53.61). Self reported sickness absenteeism was highest (50.37days) in the case of shop keepers, followed by rickshaw pullers (49.31 days), in the last six months. Considering the income loss due to illness in the past six months, the rickshaw pullers were exposed to the highest income loss (US$197.15), followed by the shop keepers (US$151.39). Although the informal sector contributes the most to the economy of Bangladesh, the workers in this sector have hardly any financial protection. This study provides critical clues to providing financial and social protection to informal sector workers in Bangladesh.

  20. Department of Geography and Regi

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    USER

    2015-01-16

    Jan 16, 2015 ... financial situations of operators at post-procurement of NAPEP tricycles. (. ) and 81% operators' rating ... In a recent survey, Obi (2007) noted that Nigeria's festering ... jobs for people of Lagos, about 500 units of auto-rickshaw ...

  1. Common mental disorders in public transportation drivers in Lima, Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Grosso, Paulo; Ramos, Mariana; Samalvides, Frine; Vega-Dienstmaier, Johann; Kruger, Hever

    2014-01-01

    Traffic related injuries are leading contributors to burden of disease worldwide. In developing countries a high proportion of them can be attributed to public transportation vehicles. Several mental disorders including alcohol and drug abuse, psychotic disorders, mental stress, productivity pressure, and low monetary income were found predictors of high rates of traffic related injuries in public transportation drivers. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders in the population of public transportation drivers of buses and rickshaws in Lima, Peru. Cross sectional study. A sample of bus and rickshaw drivers was systematically selected from formal public transportation companies using a snowball approach. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires for assessing major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms, alcohol abuse, and burnout syndrome. Socio demographic information was also collected. The analyses consisted of descriptive measurement of outcomes taking into account both between and within cluster standard deviation (BCSD and WCSD). A total of 278 bus and 227 rickshaw drivers out of 25 companies agreed to participate in the study. BCSD for major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome was not found significant (p>0.05). The estimated prevalence of each variable was 13.7% (IC95%: 10.7-16.6%), 24.1% (IC95%: 19.4-28.8%) and 14.1% (IC95%: 10.8-17.4%) respectively. The estimated prevalence of alcohol abuse was 75.4% (IC95%: 69-81.7%, BCSD = 12.2%, WCSD = 41.9%, intra class correlation (ICC): 7.8%). Common mental disorders such as alcohol abuse, major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome presented higher rates in public transportation drivers than general population.

  2. Development of a micro-hybrid system for a three-wheeled motor taxi

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hofman, T.; Tas, van der S.G.; Ooms, W.; Van Meijl, E. W P; Laugeman, B. M.

    2009-01-01

    In large cities in Asia and Africa millions of auto-rickshaws offer their taxi-services. At the same time these three-wheelers cause severe air-pollution and produce large amounts of green house gasses (carbon dioxide). The goal of the research presented in this paper is to develop a compact, robust

  3. P.R. Subramanian (Chief Editor). Kriyavill Tarkalat Tamil Akarati ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    piling a dictionary of present-day Tamil. Over the ... that grammatical rules were not ignored. Structure ... Two words that are commonly used with slight changes in form and meaning are ... It deals with both simple and compound words. This ... teacher, dupe, rail, rickshaw, ration, rubber, rowdy, levy, crop, club, carrier. R ep.

  4. Common mental disorders in public transportation drivers in Lima, Peru.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Ruiz-Grosso

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Traffic related injuries are leading contributors to burden of disease worldwide. In developing countries a high proportion of them can be attributed to public transportation vehicles. Several mental disorders including alcohol and drug abuse, psychotic disorders, mental stress, productivity pressure, and low monetary income were found predictors of high rates of traffic related injuries in public transportation drivers. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders in the population of public transportation drivers of buses and rickshaws in Lima, Peru. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cross sectional study. A sample of bus and rickshaw drivers was systematically selected from formal public transportation companies using a snowball approach. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires for assessing major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms, alcohol abuse, and burnout syndrome. Socio demographic information was also collected. The analyses consisted of descriptive measurement of outcomes taking into account both between and within cluster standard deviation (BCSD and WCSD. A total of 278 bus and 227 rickshaw drivers out of 25 companies agreed to participate in the study. BCSD for major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome was not found significant (p>0.05. The estimated prevalence of each variable was 13.7% (IC95%: 10.7-16.6%, 24.1% (IC95%: 19.4-28.8% and 14.1% (IC95%: 10.8-17.4% respectively. The estimated prevalence of alcohol abuse was 75.4% (IC95%: 69-81.7%, BCSD = 12.2%, WCSD = 41.9%, intra class correlation (ICC: 7.8%. CONCLUSION: Common mental disorders such as alcohol abuse, major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome presented higher rates in public transportation drivers than general population.

  5. Commuter exposure to inhalable, thoracic and alveolic particles in various transportation modes in Delhi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Pramod; Gupta, N C

    2016-01-15

    A public health concern is to understand the linkages between specific pollution sources and adverse health impacts. Commuting can be viewed as one of the significant-exposure activity in high-vehicle density areas. This paper investigates the commuter exposure to inhalable, thoracic and alveolic particles in various transportation modes in Delhi, India. Air pollution levels are significantly contributed by automobile exhaust and also in-vehicle exposure can be higher sometime than ambient levels. Motorcycle, auto rickshaw, car and bus were selected to study particles concentration along two routes in Delhi between Kashmere Gate and Dwarka. The bus and auto rickshaw were running on compressed natural gas (CNG) while the car and motorcycle were operated on gasoline fuel. Aerosol spectrometer was employed to measure inhalable, thoracic and alveolic particles during morning and evening rush hours for five weekdays. From the study, we observed that the concentration levels of these particles were greatly influenced by transportation modes. Concentrations of inhalable particles were found higher during morning in auto rickshaw (332.81 ± 90.97 μg/m(3)) while the commuter of bus exhibited higher exposure of thoracic particles (292.23 ± 110.45 μg/m(3)) and car commuters were exposed to maximum concentrations of alveolic particles (222.37 ± 26.56 μg/m(3)). We observed that in evening car commuters experienced maximum concentrations of all sizes of particles among the four commuting modes. Interestingly, motorcycle commuters were exposed to lower levels of inhalable and thoracic particles during morning and evening hours as compared to other modes of transport. The mean values were found greater than the median values for all the modes of transport suggesting that positive skewed distributions are characteristics of naturally occurring phenomenon. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. A comparative study among the three wheeler automobile drivers on pulmonary function tests in adult males of Gulbarga city

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afshan Afroz, Salgar Veeresh B, Sugoor Manjushree, Swati I Amrutha

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Development of our country has led to rapid urbanization and there is increasing use of automobiles that is aggravating environmental pollution. Occupational exposure to automobile exhaustand industrial smokes has been shown to affect functioning of different systems of the body. The present study was taken up to assess the Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT in auto rickshaw drivers of Gulbargacity. Methods: Fifty non –smoker male auto drivers in the age group of 20–50 years for more than 5 years of auto driving experience formed the study group. Age and sex matched individuals not exposed to auto rickshaw driving [administrative staff] formed the control group. Pulmonary function parametersFVC, FEV1, FEV1%, PEFR, PIFR, FEF25-75, FEF50 and MVV were assessed using a computerized Spiro meter during their working hours and were statistically analyzed. Results: There was a highly significant decrease in FVC and FEV1 in the study group compared to control group. The decrease in FEV1%, PIFR, FEF25-75 and FEF50 were statistically significant but the decrease in PEFR and MVV were statistically nonsignificant. Conclusion: Our findings point towards the adverse effects of vehicle exhaust on lung functions, mainly on lower airways with restrictive pattern of disease.

  7. Traffic Related Aerosol Exposure And Their Risk Assessment Of Associated Metals In Delhi, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rajesh Kushwaha

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available A pilot study was carried out in New Delhi, India, to assess the level of traffic related aerosol exposure, individually and associated metals. These investigations also try to formulate their risk assessment using different modes of transport on a typical journey to work route and compared Bus, Auto-rickshaws and Bike (Two Wheelers during the journey. The inhalable particulate matter monitored in winter period and also evaluated the potential health risk due to inhalation in the study. The exposure of Particulate matter was observed maximum in the Bike (502 ± 176.38 μgm-3 and minimum in the Auto-rickshaw (208.15 ± 61.38 μgm-3. In case of human exposure to metals (viz. Cu, Cd, Mn, Pb, Ni, Co, Cr, Fe, Zn, it was mostly exposed by Fe, Zn and Co and least exposed by Cd, Cr and Pb. Human health risk was estimated based on exposure and dosage response. The assessment of particulate-bound elements was calculated by assuming exposure of 6 h. The findings indicated that the exposure to particulate bound elements have relatively more adverse health effects. International Journal of Environment, Volume-2, Issue-1, Sep-Nov 2013, Pages 26-36 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9205

  8. Passenger car equivalents of becak bermotor at road segment in Medan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surbakti, M. S.; Sembiring, I.

    2018-02-01

    The road traffic systems, travel patterns and other traffic characteristics are different for each country due to differences in the geometric patterns, available transport facilities for commuters, proportional and type of the vehicle itself and so on. In Indonesia, the standard of pce (Passenger Car Equivalent) value found on IHCM (Indonesian Highway Capacity Manual) published in 1997. IHCM stated that the value of pce for heavy vehicles and motorcycles are 1.3 and 0.5 respectively. On these day, regarding Medan as a third biggest city in Indonesia, there have been lot of changes with regarding to the composition of the vehicle, as well as variations of the type of the vehicle itself. Becak bermotor (motorized tricycles) is a vehicle which is widely available in the city of Medan. Data from Medan City Transportation Department stated that there are more than 20,000 motorized motorized tricycles vehicles operating in the city at these day. Pce value of these rickshaws will be calculated based on observations at road and intersections in Medan. The calculation result shows that the pce value of motorized rickshaw is more than 1. This value will make the calculations regarding the performance of the traffic can be performed more accurately.

  9. Kosovan refugees in the UK: the Rolls Royce or rickshaw

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alice Bloch

    1999-08-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the different reception and support entitlements offered to spontaneous asylum seekers from Kosovo and their UNHCR programme counterparts, plus the operation of the Kosovo reception programme. It also discusses the Asylum and Immigration Bill and itsimplications for asylum seekers to the UK.

  10. Climate and health relevant emissions from in-use Indian three-wheelers fueled by natural gas and gasoline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Conor C O; Grieshop, Andrew P; Kandlikar, Milind

    2011-03-15

    Auto-rickshaws in India use different fuels and engine technologies, with varying emissions and implications for air quality and climate change. Chassis dynamometer emission testing was conducted on 30 in-use auto-rickshaws to quantify the impact of switching from gasoline to compressed natural gas (CNG) in spark-ignition engines. Thirteen test vehicles had two-stroke CNG engines (CNG-2S) and 17 had four-stroke CNG engines (CNG-4S), of which 11 were dual-fuel and operable on a back-up gasoline (petrol) system (PET-4S). Fuel-based emission factors were determined for gaseous pollutants (CO(2), CH(4), NO(X), THC, and CO) and fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)). Intervehicle variability was high, and for most pollutants there was no significant difference (95% confidence level) between "old" (1998-2001) and "new" (2007-2009) age-groups within a given fuel-technology class. Mean fuel-based PM(2.5) emission factor (mean (95% confidence interval)) for CNG-2S (14.2 g kg(-1) (6.2-26.7)) was almost 30 times higher than for CNG-4S (0.5 g kg(-1) (0.3-0.9)) and 12 times higher than for PET-4S (1.2 g kg(-1) (0.8-1.7)). Global warming commitment associated with emissions from CNG-2S was more than twice that from CNG-4S or PET-4S, due mostly to CH(4) emissions. Comprehensive measurements and data should drive policy interventions rather than assumptions about the impacts of clean fuels.

  11. On-road PM2.5 pollution exposure in multiple transport microenvironments in Delhi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goel, Rahul; Gani, Shahzad; Guttikunda, Sarath K.; Wilson, Daniel; Tiwari, Geetam

    2015-12-01

    PM2.5 pollution in Delhi averaged 150 μg/m3 from 2012 through 2014, which is 15 times higher than the World Health Organization's annual-average guideline. For this setting, we present on-road exposure of PM2.5 concentrations for 11 transport microenvironments along a fixed 8.3-km arterial route, during morning rush hour. The data collection was carried out using a portable TSI DustTrak DRX 8433 aerosol monitor, between January and May (2014). The monthly-average measured ambient concentrations varied from 130 μg/m3 to 250 μg/m3. The on-road PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the ambient measurements by an average of 40% for walking, 10% for cycle, 30% for motorised two wheeler (2W), 30% for open-windowed (OW) car, 30% for auto rickshaw, 20% for air-conditioned as well as for OW bus, 20% for bus stop, and 30% for underground metro station. On the other hand, concentrations were lower by 50% inside air-conditioned (AC) car and 20% inside the metro rail carriage. We find that the percent exceedance for open modes (cycle, auto rickshaw, 2W, OW car, and OW bus) reduces non-linearly with increasing ambient concentration. The reduction is steeper at concentrations lower than 150 μg/m3 than at higher concentrations. After accounting for air inhalation rate and speed of travel, PM2.5 mass uptake per kilometer during cycling is 9 times of AC car, the mode with the lowest exposure. At current level of concentrations, an hour of cycling in Delhi during morning rush-hour period results in PM2.5 dose which is 40% higher than an entire-day dose in cities like Tokyo, London, and New York, where ambient concentrations range from 10 to 20 μg/m3.

  12. Willingness-to-Pay for Community-Based Health Insurance among Informal Workers in Urban Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Sayem; Hoque, Mohammad Enamul; Sarker, Abdur Razzaque; Sultana, Marufa; Islam, Ziaul; Gazi, Rukhsana; Khan, Jahangir A M

    2016-01-01

    Reliance on out-of-pocket payment for healthcare may lead poor households to undertake catastrophic health expenditure, and risk-pooling mechanisms have been recommended to mitigate such burdens for households in Bangladesh. About 88% of the population of Bangladesh depends on work in the informal sector. We aimed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for CBHI and identify its determinants among three categories of urban informal workers rickshaw-pullers, shopkeepers and restaurant workers. The bidding game version of contingent valuation method was used to estimate weekly WTP. In three urban locations 557 workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during 2010 and 2011. Multiple-regression analysis was used to predict WTP by demographic and household characteristics, occupation, education level and past illness. WTP for a CBHI scheme was expressed by 86.7% of informal workers. Weekly average WTP was 22.8 BDT [Bangladeshi Taka; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.9-24.8] or 0.32 USD and varied significantly across occupational groups (p = 0.000) and locations (p = 0.003). WTP was highest among rickshaw-pullers (28.2 BDT or 0.40 USD; 95% CI: 24.7-31.7), followed by restaurant workers (20.4 BDT 0.29 USD; 95% CI: 17.0-23.8) and shopkeepers (19.2 BDT or 0.27 USD; 95% CI: 16.1-22.4). Multiple regression analysis identified monthly income, occupation, geographical location and educational level as the key determinants of WTP. WTP increased 0.196% with each 1% increase in monthly income, and was 26.9% lower among workers with up to a primary level of education versus those with higher than primary, but less than one year of education. Informal workers in urban areas thus are willing to pay for CBHI and socioeconomic differences explain the magnitude of WTP. The policy maker might think introducing community-based model including public-community partnership model for healthcare financing of informal workers. Decision making regarding the implementation of such

  13. Willingness-to-Pay for Community-Based Health Insurance among Informal Workers in Urban Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Sayem; Hoque, Mohammad Enamul; Sarker, Abdur Razzaque; Sultana, Marufa; Islam, Ziaul; Gazi, Rukhsana; Khan, Jahangir A. M.

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Reliance on out-of-pocket payment for healthcare may lead poor households to undertake catastrophic health expenditure, and risk-pooling mechanisms have been recommended to mitigate such burdens for households in Bangladesh. About 88% of the population of Bangladesh depends on work in the informal sector. We aimed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for CBHI and identify its determinants among three categories of urban informal workers rickshaw-pullers, shopkeepers and restaurant workers. Methods The bidding game version of contingent valuation method was used to estimate weekly WTP. In three urban locations 557 workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during 2010 and 2011. Multiple-regression analysis was used to predict WTP by demographic and household characteristics, occupation, education level and past illness. Results WTP for a CBHI scheme was expressed by 86.7% of informal workers. Weekly average WTP was 22.8 BDT [Bangladeshi Taka; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.9–24.8] or 0.32 USD and varied significantly across occupational groups (p = 0.000) and locations (p = 0.003). WTP was highest among rickshaw-pullers (28.2 BDT or 0.40 USD; 95% CI: 24.7–31.7), followed by restaurant workers (20.4 BDT 0.29 USD; 95% CI: 17.0–23.8) and shopkeepers (19.2 BDT or 0.27 USD; 95% CI: 16.1–22.4). Multiple regression analysis identified monthly income, occupation, geographical location and educational level as the key determinants of WTP. WTP increased 0.196% with each 1% increase in monthly income, and was 26.9% lower among workers with up to a primary level of education versus those with higher than primary, but less than one year of education. Conclusion Informal workers in urban areas thus are willing to pay for CBHI and socioeconomic differences explain the magnitude of WTP. The policy maker might think introducing community-based model including public-community partnership model for healthcare financing of informal workers

  14. Zombie Graduates Driven by Rickshaw Faculty--A Qualitative Case Study: Private Universities in Urban Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husain, Matt M.; Osswald, Karina

    2016-01-01

    Bangladesh's post-secondary education has become a hunting ground for local economic conglomerates and their transnational allies. Applying a holistic lens helps to understand the factors and short-term effects of blindly applying neo-liberal induced deregulation and privatization that constructed a mushrooming "McDonaldization" culture…

  15. Traffic noise in Hyderabad city, part-II. vehicular contribution to road traffic noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheikh, G.H.

    2001-01-01

    The results of a road traffic noise survey carried out in Hyderabad city showed that the levels of traffic noise in the City are alarmingly high and much beyond the comfortable limits. There, in order to investigate the level of the noise emitted by different types of vehicles plying on the city roads and to assess their individual contribution to high level traffic noise, studies have been carried out on the measurement of noise emitted by motorcycles, buses, auto-rickshaws, and motor vehicle horns as they normally move on the city roads. The data collected has been analyzed for L/sub v99/, L/sub v90/, L/sub v50/, L/sub v10/ and L/sub v1/ and results are discussed with reference to the existing motor vehicle rules in Pakistan and motor vehicle noise emission limits set by the EEC and other developed countries. Some suggestion have also been made to limit high level traffic noise. (author)

  16. PASSENGER CAR EQUIVALENT (PCE OF THROUGH VEHICLES AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS IN DHAKA METROPOLITAN CITY, BANGLADESH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Partha SAHA

    2009-01-01

    PCE currently used in Bangladesh is based on the values given in Geometric Design of Highways (MoC, 2001, which is the modification of the values given by Webster (1958 on the study performed in the United Kingdom in the 50's and 60's. But now-a-days, the situation is far different both for traffic and road user as the characteristics have changed from that time. Hence, in this paper an empirical study was carried out to determine the PCE of different types of vehicle that reflect the actual traffic conditions of Dhaka Metropolitan City. Data were collected from ten signalized intersections and the headway ratio method was used to estimate the PCE of different types of vehicle. The main vehicle compositions observed during the study period consist of passenger cars, auto-rickshaws, mini-buses and buses. The PCE obtained in this study were compared to the values established earlier. It was found that the estimated PCE are smaller than those being used in Bangladesh.

  17. The effect of traffic noise on the hearing level of people on Karachi streets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jawed, I.; Musani, A.; Mahmood, R.; Khambaty, W.Y.; Asim, M.

    2010-01-01

    To study the effects of traffic noise on hearing ability of subjects prone to traffic noise exposure. Method: A hospital based prospective study was performed comprising of 200 selected subjects significantly exposed to traffic noise. These included rickshaw drivers, traffic constables and shopkeepers in central business area. All subjects were questioned according to a Performa after which ENT examination was carried out followed by Pure Tone Audiometer y. Results: Hearing impairment showed correlation with the duration of job when analyzed by linear regression analysis with correlation coefficient r=0.36 (p<0.001), Hearing impairment was 33.81+0.42 dB according to the duration of job (in years). Conclusion: Subjects are perceptually exposed to potentially damaging sound pressure level in the metropolis of Karachi. It was observed that audio logically consistent noise induced hearing loss was found to be 0.42 dB per octave from 500 Hz to 2000 Hz per year of duration of job. (author)

  18. Road rage and road traffic accidents among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaikh, M A; Shaikh, I A; Siddiqui, Z

    2012-04-01

    Road rage and road traffic accidents increase the burden of morbidity and mortality in a population. A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan (n = 901) to record their behaviours/experiences regarding road rage and road traffic accidents. Respondents were asked about incidents of shouting/cursing/rude gestures or threats to physically hurt the person/vehicle, by others or themselves, in the previous 24 hours or 3 months, and their involvement in road traffic accidents in the previous 12 months. Auto-rickshaw drivers were significantly more likely to report various road rage experiences/behaviours and involvement in accidents compared with bus and wagon drivers. A total of 112 respondents (12.4%) reported being involved in a road traffic accident in the previous 12 months but traffic police did not record the accident in 52.7% of cases. The results of this study underline the need to improve road safety in Pakistan.

  19. Status of traffic noise in urban areas of peshawar (pakistan) and measures for minimizing it

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, M.; Khan, A.R.; Yamin, A.; Aslam, M.T.

    2007-01-01

    Survey of noise-level of traffic was conducted at 16 busy intersections of Peshawar City (Pakistan), from 08.00 a.m. to 04.05 p.m. continuously. The data on noise-level were analyzed for L/sub A90/ (average background), L/sub A50/ (average), L/sub A10/ (average peak); approximate values of L/sub Aeq(8)/ were evaluated for each intersection. These levels varied in the ranges; L/sub A90/ (72.2-82.7), L/sub A50/ ( 78.1-89.8), L/sub A10/ (88.3-96.7) and L/sub A90/(84.4-93.6) dB (A). Data concerning numbers and kind of vehicles passing at each intersection were also collected. It was found that an average of 36,168 vehicles/hour pass through the city intersections. The results obtained indicate that faulty engines and defective silencers were the main sources contributing towards noise-pollution. Three-wheeler Auto-rickshaw was the single main vehicle contributing towards aggravating the problem several folds. Possible mitigative measures have also been suggested. (author)

  20. Biofluid metabotyping of occupationally exposed subjects to air pollution demonstrates high oxidative stress and deregulated amino acid metabolism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pradhan, Surya Narayan; Das, Aleena; Meena, Ramovatar; Nanda, Ranjan Kumar; Rajamani, Paulraj

    2016-10-01

    Occupational exposure to air pollution induces oxidative stress and prolonged exposure increases susceptibility to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in several working groups. Biofluid of these subjects may reflect perturbed metabolic phenotypes. In this study we carried out a comparative molecular profiling study using parallel biofluids collected from subjects (n = 85) belonging to auto rickshaw drivers (ARD), traffic cops (TC) and office workers (OW). Higher levels of oxidative stress and inflammation markers in serum of ARD subjects were observed as compared to OW and TC. Uni and multivariate analyses of metabolites identified in urine by 1H NMR revealed 11 deregulated molecules in ARD subjects and involved in phenylalanine, histidine, arginine and proline metabolism. Despite contribution of confounding factors like exposure period, dietary factors including smoking and alcohol status, our results demonstrate existence of exposure specific metabotypes in biofluids of ARD, OW and TC groups. Monitoring serum oxidative stress and inflammation markers and urine metabolites by NMR may be useful to characterize perturbed metabolic phenotypes in populations exposed to urban traffic air pollution.

  1. Technologies for climate change mitigation - transport sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salter, R.; Newman, P. (Curtin Univ. Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, Perth, WA (Australia)); Dhar, S. (UNEP Risoe Centre, Roskilde (Denmark))

    2011-03-15

    The options outlined in this guidebook are designed to assist you in the process of developing transport services and facilities in your countries and localities - transport that better serves people's needs and enhances their lives while at the same time producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This is a new challenge, as previously improving transport generally led to increased greenhouse gases. The challenge now is to provide transport that: 1) is cheaper, more extensive and better quality 2) reduces pollution, congestion, traffic accidents and other threats to health and wellbeing 3) is accessible to all 4) supports economic development 5) reduces greenhouse emissions overall. This can be achieved if: 1) mass transit, walking and cycling are supported and encouraged, and integrated in a way that allows seamless multimodal travel, including networks of taxis, auto-rickshaws and small buses. 2) the mass transit services - including trains, buses and light-rail - are frequent, extensive, attractive, comfortable, affordable and faster than alternatives, with features like integrated ticketing and real time information accessible through mobile phones and other sources 3) private vehicle use and air travel are discouraged through pricing and other demand management measures, and through the availability of better alternative modes 4) there is support for the adoption of cleaner, lower carbon fuels and technologies and better maintenance practices for all transport modes, including private vehicles, water transport, auto-rickshaws and freight vehicles 5) the overall need for travel is reduced through the development of denser localities with more mixed land use and better access to mass transit (which reduces overall travel in ways that will be explained) 6) travel space is better managed to give higher priority to more sustainable transport modes, to promote safety, and to prevent traffic from adversely affecting residents and businesses. As you address these

  2. Technologies for climate change mitigation - transport sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salter, R; Newman, P [Curtin Univ. Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, Perth, WA (Australia); Dhar, S [UNEP Risoe Centre, Roskilde (Denmark)

    2011-03-15

    The options outlined in this guidebook are designed to assist you in the process of developing transport services and facilities in your countries and localities - transport that better serves people's needs and enhances their lives while at the same time producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This is a new challenge, as previously improving transport generally led to increased greenhouse gases. The challenge now is to provide transport that: 1) is cheaper, more extensive and better quality 2) reduces pollution, congestion, traffic accidents and other threats to health and wellbeing 3) is accessible to all 4) supports economic development 5) reduces greenhouse emissions overall. This can be achieved if: 1) mass transit, walking and cycling are supported and encouraged, and integrated in a way that allows seamless multimodal travel, including networks of taxis, auto-rickshaws and small buses. 2) the mass transit services - including trains, buses and light-rail - are frequent, extensive, attractive, comfortable, affordable and faster than alternatives, with features like integrated ticketing and real time information accessible through mobile phones and other sources 3) private vehicle use and air travel are discouraged through pricing and other demand management measures, and through the availability of better alternative modes 4) there is support for the adoption of cleaner, lower carbon fuels and technologies and better maintenance practices for all transport modes, including private vehicles, water transport, auto-rickshaws and freight vehicles 5) the overall need for travel is reduced through the development of denser localities with more mixed land use and better access to mass transit (which reduces overall travel in ways that will be explained) 6) travel space is better managed to give higher priority to more sustainable transport modes, to promote safety, and to prevent traffic from adversely affecting residents and businesses. As you address these

  3. Long Term Follow-Up of a Successful Lower Limb Replantation in a 3-Year-Old Child

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akbar Jaleel Zubairi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Replantation of the lower extremity has controversial indications but nevertheless it may be considered in carefully selected patients who present early and are expected to show good functional recoveries. Here we present a successful replantation in a 3-year-old boy who has made excellent recovery with no functional deficit evident at 12 years of follow-up. He sustained a traumatic amputation at the level of distal tibia when he fell of a “Qing Qi” (motorcycle rickshaw. Replantation was attempted at 8 hours cold ischemia time with the tibia shortened 4 cm and all tendons, vessels, and nerves repaired. Patient required a second procedure during the same hospital stay for skin coverage. Patient made good recovery with ambulation without support at 6 months, less than 3 cm limb length discrepancy, plantar and dorsiflexion power 4/5, and recovery of sensation over the foot. Now at 12 years of follow-up patient has a normal gait and has integrated into society with no functional deficit. Considering the functional outcome of our case, replantation should be attempted whenever possible and feasible especially in children.

  4. Study of lead pollution in air, soil and water samples of Quetta city

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, M.; Khan, G.M.; Akbar, S.; Panezai, M.A.; Haq, Z.U.

    2011-01-01

    This study briefly presents the collected data of lead pollution in the environment of Quetta City in Balochistan, Pakistan. The samples were collected from different sites. The analysis of lead was carried out in underground water samples, the exhaust of different vehicles, roadside and sewage soils from selected points of Quetta City. The average discharge resulted in deposition by motorcycles (29.12 g/h), cars (44.47 g/h), wagons (176.54 g/h) and buses (141.52 g/h). The maximum deposition was 222.96 g/h from auto-rickshaws. The value for lead in smoke of different vehicles seems quite high when extrapolated to the large number of such vehicles for a longer time. The concentration of lead in roadside soil varied from 73.3 mg/kg (T and T closed colony) to 731.9 mg/kg (Sirki road bus-stop). The average content of lead in sewage soil of City Nala is 1250.6 mg/kg. The level of lead was more than WHO standards for such soils. The lead quantity in all 24 tube- well water samples, was slightly above the WHO standards (10 macro g/L).The results of this study were comparable to similar study in twin cities of Rawalpindi and islamabad. (author)

  5. Investigation of CO2 emission reduction strategy from in-use gasoline vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choudhary, Arti; Gokhale, Sharad

    2016-04-01

    On road transport emissions is kicking off in Indian cities due to high levels of urbanization and economic growth during the last decade in Indian subcontinent. In 1951, about 17% of India's population were living in urban areas that increased to 32% in 2011. Currently, India is fourth largest Green House Gas (GHG) emitter in the world, with its transport sector being the second largest contributor of CO2 emissions. For achieving prospective carbon reduction targets, substantial opportunity among in-use vehicle is necessary to quantify. Since, urban traffic flow and operating condition has significant impact on exhaust emission (Choudhary and Gokhale, 2016). This study examined the influence of vehicular operating kinetics on CO2 emission from predominant private transportation vehicles of Indian metropolitan city, Guwahati. On-board instantaneous data were used to quantify the impact of CO2 emission on different mileage passenger cars and auto-rickshaws at different times of the day. Further study investigates CO2 emission reduction strategies by using International Vehicle Emission (IVE) model to improve co-benefit in private transportation by integrated effort such as gradual phase-out of inefficient vehicle and low carbon fuel. The analysis suggests that fuel type, vehicles maintenance and traffic flow management have potential for reduction of urban sector GHG emissions. Keywords: private transportation, CO2, instantaneous emission, IVE model Reference Choudhary, A., Gokhale, S. (2016). Urban real-world driving traffic emissions during interruption and congestion. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 43: 59-70.

  6. Evolution of on-road vehicle exhaust emissions in Delhi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goel, Rahul; Guttikunda, Sarath K.

    2015-03-01

    For a 40-year horizon (1990-2030), on-road vehicle exhaust emissions were evaluated, retrospectively and prospectively, for the largest urban agglomeration in India - the Greater Delhi region with a combined population of 22 million in 2011 (Delhi along with Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon). Emissions of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) reached their peak during late 1990s through early 2000s after which they reduced significantly through year 2012. On the other hand, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide show an increasing trend. The most reduction in emissions between 1998 and 2012 occurred as a result of implementation of four sets of vehicular emission standards, removal of lead, reduction of sulfur content, mandatory retirement of older commercial vehicles, and conversion of diesel and petrol run public transport vehicles to compressed natural gas. In addition, changes in the vehicular technology have also contributed to controlling emissions especially in case of auto-rickshaws and motorized two-wheelers, which changed from two-stroke to four-stroke. The rising trend of NOx along with the presence of VOCs indicates increasing tendency to form ground-level ozone and as a result, smog in the region. We predict that the current regime of vehicle technology, fuel standards, and high growth rate of private vehicles, is likely to nullify all the past emission reductions by the end of 2020s.

  7. Evaluation of Urban Bus Transport Failure in Gujranwala City of Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MUHAMMAD WAQAR ASLAM

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This research work has evaluated the performance of urban public bus transport service operating in Gujranwala city of Pakistan. The assessment has been made in terms of financial viability, bus condition, operational performance and user perception. Based on the data requirements, various traffic/transport surveys were conducted including Passenger Boarding and Alighting Survey, Bus Count Survey, Bus Inspection Survey, Illegal Operations Survey and Public Transport User Interview Survey in consultation with concerned department/agencies. Field surveys were also conducted to get input from passengers and local people. Initial investigation informed that out of four operational bus routes, only two routes are profitable. The overall bus operation is running in loss (only 0.3% net profit. It has barely any profit for the bus operator against its investment thereby making the urban bus operation financially non-viable. The whole revenue flow is dependent on passenger ticketing revenue only. Around 35% of the buses are in poor condition with major issues of quality of tyres, no speedometer, worse condition of seats, floor and ceiling, and display of route. Illegal operation of Qingqis/Rickshaws (as para-transit mode along the bus routes is also decreasing the revenue by capturing the passenger volume. According to passenger opinion analysis, around 55% of the passenger are not satisfied with the service quality and prefer other modes of transport. Their major concerns are absence of facilities for disables and bus stops, bus seating and standing capacity, poor bus condition and pick pocketing. Collectively, these factors are contributing

  8. A Review of Measures against Increasing Temperature and Climate Change for the Safeguard of Workers in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranjit Kumar Dehury

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Severe heat causes various health related problems among the workers in India. Working under hot and humid environment damages health of workers especially the agriculture labourers, construction workers, rickshaw pullers, venders, brick kiln workers and daily wage labourers. High humidity and high temperature can leads to heat stress even in 38°C temperature. The damage might be temporary, like heat related injuries to permanent like, critical heat stroke. Sometimes, it leads to occupational hazards which is irreversible in nature. Despite these serious issues, there is minimal preparation which exposes the workers to serious conditions. This paper evaluates various consequences of climate change and increasing temperature on the workers. Various databases like PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar have been enquired to bring evidences across industry and places. The effects of heat and temperature were thematically arranged to understand the seriousness of the issues. Suggestions and way forwards are also discussed for the solution for workers and sustainability of various sectors depending on labourers working under the heat of sun. The paper suggests the requirement of creating a heat combating environment by coordinating among various government departments and agencies for the welfare of the workers. The industrial workers have to be provided with sufficient measures by various industries as per the governing laws. The agriculture and brick kiln workers have to work in mild heat and with sufficient protection to avoid consequences. The government need to monitor the unorganised sectors for protection of workers by law enforcing organs.

  9. Microfinance, wage employment and housework: a gender analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, M R

    1999-08-01

    This paper examines the loan-use pattern of women involved in wage employment and their benefits from such loans in Bangladesh. The effects of wage employment on gender relations and how these women balance loan use, wage employment, and housework were also explored. The study was conducted among women enrolled in the Ayesha Abed Foundation (AAF) of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in Jamalpur district, central Bangladesh. The AAF was established to generate employment and income for poor rural women. Data were gathered through survey, interviews, and focus-group discussions. Findings revealed that women wage earners avail themselves of the BRAC loans for consumption, asset accumulation, land purchase, and other productive purposes. About 53% of their loans were used by others and only 34 out of 341 women in the sample actually used the loans themselves. The loans were repaid by sewing or subsistence work, mainly in the subcenters (52%), through income from rickshaw pulling by their husbands (24%), and by selling vegetables, eggs, or milk. Furthermore, findings showed that the household work of women wage earners is generally taken up by other women in the family and has resulted in more men taking part in household responsibilities. In conclusion, wage employment plays an important factor in the promotion of the economic and social empowerment of women. Economic empowerment is observed in the greater degree of control women have over the money they earn. Social empowerment is manifested in the expanding mobility of women, whereby they are able to interact with other women and generate support systems.

  10. Modelling of road traffic fatalities in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goel, Rahul

    2018-03-01

    Passenger modes in India include walking, cycling, buses, trains, intermediate public transport modes (IPT) such as three-wheeled auto rickshaws or tuk-tuks, motorised two-wheelers (2W) as well as cars. However, epidemiological studies of traffic crashes in India have been limited in their approach to account for the exposure of these road users. In 2011, for the first time, census in India reported travel distance and mode of travel for workers. A Poisson-lognormal mixture regression model is developed at the state level to explore the relationship of road deaths of all the road users with commute travel distance by different on-road modes. The model controlled for diesel consumption (proxy for freight traffic), length of national highways, proportion of population in urban areas, and built-up population density. The results show that walking, cycling and, interestingly, IPT are associated with lower risk of road deaths, while 2W, car and bus are associated with higher risk. Promotion of IPT has twofold benefits of increasing safety as well as providing a sustainable mode of transport. The mode shift scenarios show that, for similar mode shift across the states, the resulting trends in road deaths are highly dependent on the baseline mode shares. The most worrying trend is the steep growth of death burden resulting from mode shift of walking and cycling to 2W. While the paper illustrates a limited set of mode shift scenarios involving two modes at a time, the model can be applied to assess safety impacts resulting from a more complex set of scenarios. Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  11. Epidemiology of road traffic injury patients presenting to a tertiary hospital in Hyderabad, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howley, Isaac W; Gupta, Shivam; Tetali, Shailaja; Josyula, Lakshmi K; Wadhwaniya, Shirin; Gururaj, Gopalkrishna; Rao, Mohan; Hyder, Adnan A

    2017-12-01

    Road traffic injuries kill more people in India than in any other country in the world, and these numbers are rising with increasing population density and motorization. Official statistics regarding road traffic injuries are likely subject to underreporting. This study presents results of a surveillance program based at a public tertiary hospital in Hyderabad, India. All consenting patients who presented to the casualty ward after a road traffic injury over a 9-month period were enrolled. Interviews were performed and data abstracted from clinical records by trained research assistants. Data included demographics, injury characteristics, risk factors, safety behaviors, and outcomes. A total of 5,298 patients were enrolled; their mean age was 32.4 years (standard deviation 13.8) and 87.3% were men; 58.2% of patients were injured while riding a motorcycle or scooter, 22.5% were pedestrians, and 9.2% used motorized rickshaws. The most frequent collision type was skid or rollover (40.9%). Male victims were younger than female victims and were overrepresented among motorized 2-wheeler users. Patients were most frequently injured from 1600 to 2400. A total of 27.3% of patients were admitted. Hospital mortality was 5.3%, and 48.2% of deaths were among motorized 2-wheeler users. This is one of the few prospective, hospital-based studies of road traffic injury epidemiology in India. The patient population in this study was similar to prior hospital-based studies. When compared to government surveillance systems, this study showed motorized 2-wheeler users to be more frequently represented among the overall population and among fatalities. Further research should be done to develop interventions to decrease mortality associated with 2-wheeled vehicles in India. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. Comparison of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure levels in different everyday microenvironments in an international context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagar, Sanjay; Adem, Seid M; Struchen, Benjamin; Loughran, Sarah P; Brunjes, Michael E; Arangua, Lisa; Dalvie, Mohamed Aqiel; Croft, Rodney J; Jerrett, Michael; Moskowitz, Joel M; Kuo, Tony; Röösli, Martin

    2018-05-01

    The aim of this study was to quantify RF-EMF exposure applying a tested protocol of RF-EMF exposure measurements using portable devices with a high sampling rate in different microenvironments of Switzerland, Ethiopia, Nepal, South Africa, Australia and the United States of America. We used portable measurement devices for assessing RF-EMF exposure in 94 outdoor microenvironments and 18 public transport vehicles. The measurements were taken either by walking with a backpack with the devices at the height of the head and a distance of 20-30 cm from the body, or driving a car with the devices mounted on its roof, which was 170-180 cm above the ground. The measurements were taken for about 30 min while walking and about 15-20 min while driving in each microenvironment, with a sampling rate of once every 4 s (ExpoM-RF) and 5 s (EME Spy 201). Mean total RF-EMF exposure in various outdoor microenvironments varied between 0.23 V/m (non-central residential area in Switzerland) and 1.85 V/m (university area in Australia), and across modes of public transport between 0.32 V/m (bus in rural area in Switzerland) and 0.86 V/m (Auto rickshaw in urban area in Nepal). For most outdoor areas the major exposure contribution was from mobile phone base stations. Otherwise broadcasting was dominant. Uplink from mobile phone handsets was generally very small, except in Swiss trains and some Swiss buses. This study demonstrates high RF-EMF variability between the 94 selected microenvironments from all over the world. Exposure levels tended to increase with increasing urbanity. In most microenvironments downlink from mobile phone base stations is the most relevant contributor. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. KONFLIK SOPIR PO. MITRA KENCANA VS PENGEMUDI BETOR DI AIR BANGIS, KAB. PASAMAN BARAT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helma Frida

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In 2003 the events that many casualties. Where this event originated from a dispute between the driver PO. Mitra Kencana with Pedicab driver Motor in getting the passengers on Air Bangis Nagari, in this event is not only a victim but a more serious matter is the lives that four people falling PO driver. Partners Ujung Gading Kencana of Nagari and the residents Nagari Air Bangis and many more injuries from the incident. The study included a qualitative study of History, therefore, the study of the social conflict between the driver PO. Mitra Kencana and Motor rickshaw driver in Pasaman from 2003-2006, carried out using the procedure History research, namely: (1 Heuristics, (2 source criticism, (3 interpretation, and (4 the presentation of research results in the form of writing scientific history or Historiography. The results of this study indicate that since the tragedy that occurred in 2003 in Pasaman, kususnya Air Bangis major events occurred which resulted in loss of life, be more careful if there is a problem among the community. Pada tahun 2003 terjadinya peristiwa yang banyak menelan korban. Dimana peristiwa ini berawal dari perselisihan antara sopir PO. Mitra Kencana dengan Pengemudi Becak Motor dalam memperebutkan penumpang di Nagari Air Bangis, dalam peristiwa ini tidak hanya korban materi namun yang lebih parah adalah korban jiwa yang berjatuhan yaitu empat orang sopir PO. Mitra Kencana dari Nagari Ujung Gading dan satu orang warga Nagari Air Bangis dan masih banyak lagi korban luka-luka dari peristiwa tersebut. Penelitian termasuk penelitian kualitatif Sejarah, oleh sebab itu kajian mengenai konflik sosial antara Sopir PO. Mitra Kencana dengan Pengemudi Becak Motor di Kabupaten Pasaman tahun 2003-2006, dilakukan dengan menggunakan prosedur penelitian Sejarah yaitu: (1 Heuristik, (2 kritik sumber, (3 interpretasi, dan (4 penyajian hasil penelitian dalam bentuk penulisan sejarah ilmiah atau Historiografi. Hasil penelitian ini