Call to regulate auto-rickshaws

Jalandhar, January 2

Jalandhar Vikas Manch, an NGO has today issued a memorandum to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh over an increasing number of auto- rickshaws plying in the city. The members have pointed out that the unregulated number of autos is not only causing high pollution level in the city but also have become a reason for rising number of accidents.Advocate RK Bhalla President, Jalandhar Vikas Manch said, “Now-a-days autorickshaw terror is being felt by the public because the number of auto-rickshaws which are running on roads are much more than required. Hence, the traffic in the city has increased and these auto- rickshaw drivers are violating the traffic laws resulting in accidents. Moreover, these auto-rickshaws are being driven on diesel and old engines create so much smoke that it becomes injurious to the health of the residents.”

The memorandum also mentioned that the auto- rickshaw drivers are breaking traffic laws and the guidelines framed by the Supreme Court of India. “In the race to get more passengers, these auto-rickshaw drivers stop at any point as per their wish, resulting in obstruction in the smooth running of traffic. The passenger auto-rickshaws are meant to carry two passengers but it has been seen that these auto-rickshaw drivers are carrying about 8-10 passengers very often. Overloading of schoolchildren is a common sight. There are restrictions on carrying of more school children than the cited capacity, after which the auto-rickshaw drivers have increased the fee for carrying the school children on the ground that it had become more costly for them to carry the children but with the passage of time and even after the increase in fee, the autodrivers have again started carrying much more children than required”, Manch chief has pointed out. Through the memorandum, Bhalla also requested traffic police to check the licence permit of the auto-rickshaws as many autos are running without authorised licence. Due to strong union, whenever there is any dispute between a commuter and an autorickshaw driver, they began to misbehave. A number of such incidents are being seen daily in the city.Bhalla has demanded an inquiry into the matter. — TNS