Much-needed relief for both citizens and autorickshaw drivers may come soon as the city is likely to get ‘auto stops’. A survey to assess the number of auto stops required will be conducted on February 1, 2 and 3.
This was decided in a meeting of Chhattisgarh Autorickshaw Union with officers of Traffic department, RTO and Raipur Municipal Corporation on Tuesday. The union members met the officials and put forward their long-pending seven demands. “Designated stops, like bus stops, must be built so that we pick-up passengers only from those stops. This will improve traffic conditions both of us and the citizens,” said president of the union Jagdeesh Prasad Tiwari.
It may be noted that for a long time, citizens have been facing problems because of reckless autorickshaw driving. Autos in the city take sharp turns from the middle of the road to pick-up passengers and cause accidents. “The need for auto stops was felt since a long time. We will conduct a survey on February 1, 2 and 3 in the city to determine the spots and number of auto stops,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (traffic) Balram Hirwani.
In the meeting Tiwari demanded that for 8,000-10,000 autos in the city, there are only a handful of autorickshaw stands. We have demanded that stands with a capacity of at least 4,000 autorickshaws are created in the city. “Most of the times, we do not have space to park our vehicles. And when we park autos on the roadside, we face challans and heavy fines,” said Tiwari.
The union members demanded that the RTO must not issue new autorickshaw permits as the city already has enough number of autos. The union members said that if the administration does not accede to their demands, they will launch a strike for an indefinite period.