Jamshedpur: Unauthorised autorickshaw stands are proliferating in the city like never before, hampering movement of vehicles and pedestrians.
An apt example is at Sakchi, where there are five unauthorised stands. Newly appointed Deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Vivekanand Thakur admitted that auto-drivers tend to park their vehicles on unauthorised stands.
“We do take action against autorickshaw drivers by slapping fines and advising them to park vehicles
at authorised stands only, but they continue to violate the rules,” said Thakur.
He said that a drive will start from this week. On the north-eastern side of the city, where the latest illegal stand has come up, a board warns motorists from parking their vehicles anywhere near the stand.
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.
Autorickshaws 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 autorickshaw stand began operating in front of a row of shops,” said the
owner of a shop at Sakchi.
At present, there are over 25,000 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 intersection.
As a result, persons on vehicles cannot spot vehicles turning the bend, raising chances of accidents,” Rajeshwar, a resident of Burmamines, said.
He said as the number of autorickshaws 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.
