MINGORA: Auto-rickshaw drivers staged a protest against introduction of route permit for rickshaws here on Tuesday.

The auto-rickshaw drivers blocked the main SaiduMingora road at Nishat Chowk and chanted slogans against the district administration and provincial government.

They said that the rickshaw drivers were badly affected by terrorism and then floods and the government now intended to impose route permit on them, which was an injustice.

`The government should have given relief to the poor drivers rather than putting them in trouble by introducing route permit for rickshaws. The condition of route permit can never be imposed in Mingora city and if the government tried to do so the rickshaw drivers will resist it,` said Ibrahim Khankhel, president of the local Rickshaw Drivers Association.

He claimed that the police and excise and taxation officials wanted to mint money from them and appealed to the commissioner Malakand division and deputy commissioner, Swat, to take notice of the matter.

The auto-rickshaw drivers said that there was no need for route permit as they already had the legal documents of their vehicles.

`In this small town we hardly earn two times food for our families through our auto-rickshaws and now the government wants to put more financial burden on us in the shape of route permit,` said Ismail, a rickshaw driver.

According to unofficial data, there are over 15,000 autorickshaws in Mingora of which only 3,000 were legally documented.