Crackdown against Gramin Seva autos

Sunday, Dec 05, 2010




Over 25 Gramin Seva autos have been impounded in the past one week by the Delhi Traffic Police for flouting traffic norms in the city. On Friday, however, there were protests by auto drivers after Traffic Police started issuing challans for carrying more than six passengers, which is the permissible limit. Auto drivers, however, claimed that they were only helping locals as this was the only mode of transport for many passengers. "We have to grease the palms of several middlemen for survival when in fact we are doing a service to hundreds of locals who have no other mode of transport for that part of the city,'' claimed an auto union leader.

Senior traffic officials claimed that these shared autos are a traffic problem. DTP had caught several shared autos plying without permits and numbers and slowing down traffic on arterial roads. "We are issuing challans for three main violations. Drivers are being fined Rs 500 and owners Rs 1000 for not carrying a valid licence. There is a fine of Rs 2000 for plying without permit and Rs 100 for overcrowding. But tackling violations by Gramin Seva autos is not that simple and we are in constant touch with the transport department to handle the issue sensitively,'' said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyender Garg to Times City.

Gramin Seva is a shared auto service. The autos ply on several arterial roads in the capital. At present, the transport department has issued 2000 permits for shared autos under Gramin Seva. The transport department had earlier said that it will stop issuing fresh permits and is in the process of rationalising routes for the service, which is basically being planned for rural belts.

The nine-seater vehicles of either Mahindra or Tata Magic make are a common sight in Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, BRT corridor, MG Road, Badarpur in south Delhi; and Seelampur, Shakarpur, Mother Dairy Road, IP Extension in east Delhi, among other areas. The transport department has been inundated with applications from people who want to run the service, officials had claimed.

The transport department had earlier decided to start charting out specific routes for the Gramin Seva autos, with permits issued strictly against these routes alone. The routes would remain limited to the rural areas where the reach of DTC buses is limited, senior officials had claimed.

Original news source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Crackdown-against-Gramin-Seva-autos/articleshow/7045002.cms#ixzz17JFwhWFe