The district traffic police on Thursday embarked on a drive to reinforce safety practices amongst auto-rickshaws drivers.
During the drive, around 56 auto-rickshaws were seized at the Jugsalai police station for violating Regional Transport Authority (RTA) order of 2,000 following directive of the then Patna High Court (during erstwhile Bihar) which makes it mandatory for auto drivers to fix an iron rod on the right side so that passengers, especially elderly and children could feel safe.
Officials said that the drive against auto drivers also aimed at carrying more passengers than their permit so as to reduce cases of mishaps in city. Deputy superintendent of police, traffic, RM Sinha informed that the drive was carried on Jugsalai-Bistupur main road near the Jugsalai police station. The traffic police also examined documents of the seized autos to check if they had got pollution check and other necessary documents in place before levying fines for their offences.
“The drive is being carried out after a span of several years. Earlier, we had carried out a drive to check overloading in the auto-rickshaws by restricting passengers number in auto-rickshaw. This time the drive is focussed on fix iron rods,” said traffic DSP RM Sinha.The traffic police official said that the drive will cover areas of Golmuri, Bistupur, Sakchi, Jugslai and Mango soon. “This drive will continue alongside other routine traffic checking drive against helmetless riders and other traffic violation. “We started the drive after complaints from people across the city,” added Sinha.
Meanwhile, the people have also welcomed the move. “We have seen passengers hanging from the rod, overloaded as they are in an auto-rickshaw. The police must made the rules and regulations in place to monitor and levy fines. Otherwise, it may be a repeated which we see everyday,” said Anurupa Roy, a social worker.Many auto-rickshaws plying on the city’s could be seen carrying passengers more than the permitted capacity. In several instances, the number of passengers seated inside the three-wheelers exceeds to eight.
There are around 25,000 autos which are plying on various routes in city roads carrying more than 2 lakhs commuters each day.