Ranchi district administration on Thursday morning decided to stop pussyfooting and set about seriously putting shackles on the capital's lawless three-wheelers, but this has led to a fresh crop of problems and a new debate.
The administration seized around 100 diesel-fuelled autos without permits from different routes within city limits between 8am and 3pm.
Of the 4,000-odd autos plying in the Ranchi Municipal Corporation area, only 2,500 were eligible for a road permit, according to a decision taken last year by deputy commissioner K.K. Soan to decongest roads. Thursday's drive was directed at the 1,500-odd roads not eligible for road permits.
While 25 autos were seized from Sukhdeonagar, 19 were held from Jagannathpur. The rest 66 were seized from Bariatu, Argora, Doranda, Sadar and Kanke police station areas.
But the fact that the paperless autos did roaring business was evident even in the VVIP pockets of the city.
"I personally seized 10 autos without permits today," traffic police station OC Suresh Prasad Singh told The Telegraph while busy escorting VVIP vehicles at Kanke Road.
On how long the drive would continue, Singh said it depended on deputy commissioner Soan, who had not given any deadline.
It is another matter that even among the 2,500 diesel-fuelled three-wheelers eligible for permits, many owners don't seem to be in a hurry to acquire the document.
Auto drivers reacted to the crackdown with anger and a disappearing act.
"Only 2,500 autos are not sufficient for the city. The district administration should grant permits to more," said Jharkhand Pradesh Diesel Autochalak Mahasangh general secretary Sunil Singh.
He further added: "We take strong exception to this drive. If permits are not provided, many hundreds of auto drivers will starve. We have convened a meeting tomorrow at Survey grounds on this issue."
Autos ineligible for permits vanished swiftly from the roads since morning, paralysing the capital's ailing public transport system and leaving many office-goers in the lurch.
"Usually, it takes hardly two minutes to get an auto rickshaw for Booty More from Jail More. Today, I have had to wait for more than 10 minutes. Still, I am lucky," said one harried commuter Sanjay Oraon, boarding an auto and looking at his watch.
The traffic police station, near Line Tank Road, was crowded with auto drivers requesting officers to release their vehicles.
It also exposed total chaos about who was eligible for permits and who wasn't.
"I have a permit to ply my auto-rickshaw within the 16km radius from Ratu. Though Kishori Yadav Chowk is within that distance, I was caught. Please release my vehicle. It is the only source of my earning," one driver, Vijendra Prasad, was heard pleading.
Do you think that a 4,000 autos are needed in the capital?
Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
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