6 Pakistani automobile innovations 'out of necessity'

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. That is why whenever some necessity arises in a society an invention is  made to cope up with it. Even in Pakistan, it can be said for most of the necessities that are answered by some innovations by the people.

However, in Pakistan, necessity is not the mother of invention rather it is the mother of innovation. Because in Pakistan people do not invent, they innovate. There is a slight difference in both the terms. Invent is to construct a new thing from scratch. While, innovate is to alter or modify a product that is already invented.

Most of the innovations that Pakistanis have done are in the automobile sector. Below are few automobile innovations that Pakistanis have done to cope up with the situation.

Chingchi (Qingqi)

Some call it chingchi others call rickshaw. These chingchi rickshaws were roaming the suburbs from the start of millennium  but in Karachi, they gained toll after the strikes of buses due to raised CNG prices. That is why Chingchi rickshaws are detested by Bus drivers. They want it banned as they think chingchi rickshaws have made their lives miserable. The old days were golden for bus drivers. They used to earn a lot as more people used to ride on buses but now availability of chingchi rickshaws have diminished their profits.

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However, one cannot blame chingchi rickshaws alone. One reason for that is that passengers welcome chingchi rickshaws themselves. They say that whenever there was a CNG strike they could not find buses on the road hence they had to wait long hours. Now they can easily get chingchi rickshaws to get to their homes.

Six seater rickshaws:

Six seater rickshaws emerged in the last two years in Karachi. Six seater rickshaws are an alteration to three-seater rickshaw and they are mainly innovated by the rickshaw drivers so to come at par with chingchi rickshaws on revenue terms.

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These six seater rickshaws are also despised by the bus drivers because the six-seater rickshaws also charge the same amount that chingchi rickshaws charge and now those people who were using buses for long distance travelling have now diverted to six seater rickshaws.

HI roof cum Ambulance:

There was a time when people used to see professional ambulances on the roads of Pakistan. However, in the previous decade due to many bomb strikes different NGO’s started using hi roof ambulances for shifting injured to hospital. These HI roof ambulances are around 9 feet in length and one person can easily sit beside the patient on backside of hi roof ambulance.

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However, they do not have any soundproof walls or medical appliances but they are covered with shades on back and sides and are usually labeled as ambulance. These are suitable for congested roads due to their high speed and small size that allows them to penetrate through heavy traffic.

Suzuki carrier police van

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They roam around the streets in Karachi. These police vans are innovative idea of Sindh police. As per our opinion, they came to life because of the low budget of Sindh police. The Sindh police was low on budget so instead of buying police vans they used Suzuki carriers and turned them in to police vans. Unlike real police vans, these Suzuki carriers are not protected from any side by hard metal but have a capacity of nine people at least.

Firefighting motorcycle

Firefighting motorcycles are quite a new edition to the fire brigade. These were recently innovated by some thought-provoking firefighters in Pakistan. However, they are in service in other countries from quite some time.

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According to media sources, the reason for this automobile innovation was that the fire brigade units lacked funds to buy fully equipped fire trucks. Around thirty trucks are available in the metropolis. Moreover, the fire trucks can not pass through small streets that are a norm in old areas of Pakistan like sadder areas due to their humongous size. So, the firefighters thought of using motorcycles that can pass through heavy traffic and small streets. Thus, firefighting motorcycles were made.

The firefighting motorcycles carry a small cylinder with them that is filled with water and a small water pipe that is connected with battery and throws out a burst of water.

So, what do you think about these creative automobile innovations?