PThe Dehradun City Buses Union president Vijay Vardhan Dandariyal has accused police of providing patronage to the illegal stands of contract carriage vehicles like Vikrams. He said that as per a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by him, police neither decide the place of the stand for the Vikrams nor do they issue any order for the Vikrams.
Dandariyal said that the Vikrams are plying in open violation of the order of Uttarakhand High Court (HC) and they have encroached road for an illegal stand near Clock Tower.
He said that RTI revelation has raised an important question over those giving protection for the operation of the Vikram stands on the roads of Dehradun.
He said that on one hand, the administration is demolishing structures in the name of anti- encroachment drive on the basis of 100-year- old maps and, on the other hand, it is conniving with the Vikram operators encroaching roads of the capital and use them as stands.
The president of the city bus association said that the officials cannot shrug off their responsibility regarding the illegal stands of Vikrams.
He said that as per the provisions of the contract carriage permits issued to the vehicles like Vikrams, they can only pick up and drop passengers from their homes or garage them at places booked. “The Vikrams are not allowed to operate like stage carriage vehicles,” Dandariyal said and added that flouting the permit rules and HC order, Vikrams are picking up retail customers on specific routes like stage carriage vehicles.