In a major drive against illegal auto-rickshaws in Noida, the traffic police have seized over 2,400 TSRs running without permit and other mandatory documents. Some auto-rickshaws were also penalised for illegal parking leading to traffic congestion in the city. The department has generated revenue of Rs 2.9 lakh through challans issued to these auto-rickshaws.
To check traffic irregularities and to monitor traffic condition in the city, Noida Traffic Cell was constituted by Noida Authority three months ago. The officers attached with the cell found that over 60 per cent of the auto-rickshaws were running without permit. The traffic cell also observed that these vehicles are the main cause of traffic chaos on the city roads.
The Regional Transport Department (RTO) of Gautam Budh Nagar permitted 11,200 auto-rickshaws for plying in the district, out of which nearly 1,000 have been allowed to run on select routes, but over 20,000 vehicles were plying flouting the norms.
According to a senior officer of the Traffic Department, manifold increase in number of auto-rickshaws and tempos has proved to be a major hurdle in the smooth vehicular movement on city roads. They are not only breaking traffic norms, but are also putting lives of passengers at risk. “As the number of vehicular volume is increasing by the day, it is need-of-the-hour to come down heavily on those vehicles which are plying without permit. We are forfeiting them so their number could decrease,” said MP Singh, Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Gautam Budh Nagar.
Apart from this, Noida Traffic Police has also decided to start a special checking drive for school buses. The department has written to the school managements to provide details about the buses, their routes, drivers and attendants.
They have also ordered the schools to follow guidelines laid by the Supreme Court and have ordered to limit number of students in buses, remove black films from window glasses, write phone numbers on buses and appoint drivers having experience of more than five years.