Jamshedpur: Drive against unauthorised auto-rickshaw stands at Sakchi

Jamshedpur, July 19: Unauthorised auto rickshaw stands are hampering movement of vehicles and pedestrians.  An apt example is at Sakchi, where there are five unauthorised stands. Concerned over the situation, a team of JNAC inspected the Mango-Sakchi auto stand and took action against the vehicles parked in no-parking zones.

With vendors eating into a good share of the space on the other side of the road, the stand has worsened the plight of road users. Auto Rickshaws are often parked in two rows, blocking virtually half of the road.

Merchants too are inconvenienced by the indiscriminate proliferation of illegal autorickshaw stands. “Our business nosedived after an illegal auto rickshaw stand began operating in front of a row of shops,” said the owner of a shop at Sakchi.

At present, there are over 16,000 auto-rickshaws and over 300 stands in the city. Of these, more than 50 per cent of the stands are unauthorised and are located in the residential areas. Auto stands at residential areas not just create congestion on neighbourhood roads but also “an unhealthy atmosphere”, claim residents. Auto stands are located in 17 densely populated neighbourhoods, including Bistupur, Sonari, Kagalnagar, Burmamines, Sakchi, Jugsalai and Baridih.

Unauthorised parking behind Voltas building in Bistupur, where auto drivers park vehicles along the arterial stretch, causes inconvenience to residents. “Parking of autos leads to congestion on the narrow road leading to South Park,” said resident Kumar Anand.

It is the same case in front of TRF on the stretch connecting Burmamines and Sakchi. “Autos are parked on either side of the busy road in front of the TRF Company, blocking the turning angle of the intersection. As a result, persons on vehicles cannot spot vehicles turning the bend, raising chances of accidents,” a resident of Burmamines said.

He said as the number of auto rickshaws and taxis increased, their owners and drivers formed unions and occupied public space for auto and taxi stands. They would get the stands inaugurated by politicians. There were many such autorickshaw and taxi stands in the city. While clearing encroachments upon roads, the then district administration had declared that in future no road would be allowed to be encroached upon in the city. But the authorities were doing little in this direction now, he said.