I get tired and it gets harder. Especially in my legs

Rickshaw puller

And with the constant stopping and starting - the evasive action as buses, trucks and cars bear down upon often heavily-laden cycle rickshaws - the men who pull them say it's by no means an easy way to earn a living.

"It's difficult after four or five hours of riding. I get tired and it gets harder. Especially in my legs," says one rickshaw puller.

Sometimes even evasive action doesn't work.

Resting after a hard day's work

In areas around some of Delhi's most famous monuments and buildings, such as the Red Fort, the rickshaw pullers compete for the potentially lucrative tourist trade.

One couple got more than they bargained for.

"Well we just got hit by a car... but it's all right. The guy's a good driver. They drive very precise," they said.

Taking its toll

Even if you are sharing in the risks as you take a ride on a cycle rickshaw, as the rickshaw puller rises out of the saddle and strains to haul you along, are you helping to perpetuate a demeaning form of transport?

The argument is a long-running one. But some have a clear conscience.

I've wasted my life doing this

Ramu

"It's the cycle which is rolling. It's not the man who's doing the job. So I don't feel that bad about it," says one woman passenger.

A tea stall near Old Delhi's railway station is home to many rickshaw pullers.

One of them, Ramu, has made his living this way for 40 years. He says his marriage broke up because of the hardships he has faced.

"Many people come to me and I tell them don't even think of pulling a rickshaw.

"I've wasted my life doing this. Don't spoil yours. Some listen - others don't," he says.

He also says more rickshaws being allowed on to the roads of Delhi by the authorities doesn't help him - there's not enough business to go round as it is.

Traffic hazard

The Delhi authorities say they are not just issuing more licences.

They are also trying to control the number of unlicensed rickshaws.

Navigating old Delhi's narrow alleys

The police have been sceptical, though, about whether issuing more licences will help regulate matters.

They have expressed concern that in the end it will simply mean more cycle rickshaws on the capital's roads.

And, however "green" a vehicle they may be, in a still rapidly motorising city that poses problems.

"Anything which proliferates unchecked, it does result other issues.... The rickshaw is one of the most unsafe things on the road," says Kanwaljit Deol, the traffic commissioner of the Delhi Police.

One cycle rickshaw puller pays a penalty just in time and extracts his machine to ride away for another day's hard-won earnings.

He is as likely to be called upon to carry children to and from school as a tall stack of goods from one business to another.

Now, it's not just his cycle rickshaw that has a new lease of life.