The indefinite strike of auto rickshaw and e-rickshaw from Wednesday left the city in a mess during first half of the day, mainly office hours. However, second part of the day saw many auto rickshaw appearing on the roads of city giving little respite to commuters and those returning from office. Meanwhile, call for a detachment from strike by one fraction of the Jharkhand Auto Chalak Association has not only weakened the strike, but has also questioned very basic importance of it.
“We have called the strike for three reasons. First, those auto rickshaw got registered must be allowed to run on roads. Second, route pass of auto rickshaws by Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and district traffic officials in which 20 routes have been fixed for 2,335 permitted auto rickshaw should be lifted within no time. Third, there must be auto stand and passenger stations from where passengers should be picked up and dropped to,” said Association President Dinesh Soni.
The demands of Association are unlikely to be fulfilled, as Urban Development Minister CP Singh has also said on Wednesday during a programme that going on strike for one demand or the other every second or third month was not a good practice at all. “Before we address one issue, they stand for other. No one can solve problems in a situation like this,” said Singh.
Though many of the demands which caused indefinite strike by the Association are not new, route fixation of e-rickshaw last month by RMC and traffic police has only fanned the buried sparks. “We are not against managing movements and traffic of the city. Our only concern is that it should be planned and not suppressing,” said Soni. As per his estimate, around 20,000 diesel auto rickshaw of Ranchi including some 1,600 e-rickshaw have joined indefinite strike.
In a bid to free city from pollution and traffic jam, RMC and traffic police have defined routes for e-rickshaw operation from Wednesday. According to traffic police, all the e-rickshaw in the city have been allotted 24 routes, violation of which might attract a fine of up to `25,000 to rickshaw driver.
“We will not force anyone go off road. However, we will request all the auto rickshaw drivers to join us for their cause from Thursday until our demands go heard,” added Soni.
The row began after the Jharkhand High Court banned the issuance of new permits to diesel-run autos within RMC area last year. The court had also directed authorities to seize all the polluting and unauthorised diesel autos, which had already harmed air cover over city considerably.
With petrol run auto rickshaw already away from strike, a fraction of Association under leadership of lankesh Singh has requested auto drivers to detach from the strike. “Strike is not a solution of any problem. This is examination time. Moreover, festival like Holi is on the doorsteps. Yet again, a strike at the cost of bread and butter of thousands of families is not a good move at all,” said lankesh Singh. He added that senior leaders of the Association were satisfying their petty issues under cover of the strike leaving poor drivers suffering.