Foreign tourists enjoy a rickshaw ride in Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 26: Tourists in Puri have special guides who not only take them around the heritage spots but also spread the word for an eco-friendly environment — the green riders. In green uniforms and pedalling rickshaws painted green, these people have won the hearts of visitors.

The green riders, who are known more as tour providers than rickshaw pullers, are trained to take special care of their passengers.

“We attend yoga classes and tourism lectures every Sunday on the beach where we get to meet a lot of people including tour operators, police officers and tourists. This gives us an idea about hospitality and the potential of tourism within Puri,” said Pramod Patnaik, a green rider.

Set up by a local organisation, Barefoot, three years ago, the Green Rickshaw campaign is a pro-poor tourism initiative meant to develop grassroots-level tourism providers. Rickshaws were an important part of the town’s 20th century life but had decreased in number over the past few years.

“Members of Barefoot observed that rickshawpullers have great knowledge about every important site of Puri. But because of the advent of autorickshaws and their alcoholism, it was difficult for the community of rickshaw-pullers to sustain,” said Yugabrata Kar, founder of Barefoot.

“Hence, we thought of promoting these grassroots-level tour operators. With the help of State Bank of India, we started with 30 green rickshaws and today there are 75 of them here. We also organise interactive sessions for the green riders to understand their potential and the role they play in developing a heritage tour in Puri,” Kar added.

The green riders follow a strict set of guidelines. They are supposed to follow a fixed price chart and not cheat tourists. They also have to abstain from alcohol during duty hours.

“We have also been given motivational training to take care of our family and educate our children. This has helped us to be socially responsible and we are respected not only by the local people but also the tourists,” said Bapi, another green rider.

The tourists enjoy taking a ride around the town on a green rickshaw.

“It is a wonderful experience to take a ride on one of these rickshaws. The riders know the interesting sites like the back of their hand. They are very hospitable and it is impressive to see them behave so politely,” said Gary Turner, an American tourist.