VVMC to introduce 100 more buses by mid-February
Palghar : Traffic police and RTO have launched a joint crackdown on autorickshaws plying illegally in Vasai Taluka following increasing complaints of refusal to ply, over charging and unruly behavior by drivers.
However, the action has led to shortage of autorickshaws on roads as besides the ones scrapped, the others operating illegally have gone underground. People can be seen queued up on almost all the important junctions in Vasai taluka like Tulinj, Manvel pada, Evershine City, Vasant Nagari and near Virar station waiting for an auto to come and help them reach their destinations. Locals are now waiting for the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) to introduce additional buses.
The RTO and the traffic police were flooded with complaints like refusal to ply, over charging and unruly behavior on a daily basis. Few autorickshaw drivers who ply the three wheelers during night were also involved in anti-social activities wherein one group had badly beaten up a Western Railway motorman who was returning from his office late night around 1am. So badly was he beaten up by a group of auto drivers that he had to be admitted in Sanjeevni hospital in Virar with a fractured hand. At times, there would be around 6 to 7 people dumped in an autorickshaw putting everyone’s life at risk.
The RTO and the traffic cops in tandem started acting against auto drivers who didn’t possess valid documents, didn’t wear the approved uniform or badges, whose fitness certificate had expired or anything that was illegal about the vehicle. The two departments have almost cleaned the streets of Vasai taluka by imposing fines and scrapping autorickshaws plying illegally.
This month, the Vasai RTO earned Rs 6.25 lakh by auctioning 95 of the 150 autos they had taken in their custody as they didn’t fit in the legal frame work. This had never happened in the history of Vasai RTO. Not lagging behind, the traffic police also registered around 217 cases and collected fine worth Rs 5.07 lakh.
This action from the RTO and the traffic police have sent ripples in the illegal autorickshaw world and more than 200 rickshaws have gone underground and are waiting for the dust to settle. This unfortunately has caused a lot of inconvenience to the people who travel intra-city in Vasai and are completely dependent on VVMC buses.
Vishal Rajemahadik
