The Hindu               16.05.2013

Corporation decides to regulate auto stands

City to be classified into different zones; permission to be granted on the basis of space, public requirement.

The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has decided to
streamline and regulate autorickshaw stands in the city, a long pending
demand of consumer organisations.

The civic body has
set in motion a process to regulate and issue permission for
autorickshaw stands across the city. The civic body proposes to classify
the city into different zones and grant permission for autorickshaw
stands depending on the available space and public requirement.

The
Corporation has also said that it had not given any permission for
autorickshaw stands in the city for any individual organisation. Hence,
signboards put up by unions or parties in certain autorickshaw stands
should be removed within three days, Corporation Commissioner
V.P.Thandapani said in a press release.

Applications
are to be invited from autorickshaw drivers for giving approval with
specific number of vehicles to be permitted in each stand. Permission
will be granted in consultation with the police and transport
departments, sources in the Corporation told
The Hindu
.

The move comes in the wake of a recent directive of
the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court to the Corporation to
consider a representation from A.Thirupathy, district president of the
Tiruchi District DMDK Thozhilalargal Sangam, seeking a direction to the
civic body to allow its members to operate from the auto stands in the
city.

Though the Corporation in 1999 had approved and
notified over 90 auto stands in the city, several unapproved auto
stands have mushroomed in the city. Many of them have come to occupy
vantage road spaces, posing a traffic hindrance. There have been
allegations that some unions are demanding money to allow new autos from
their stands at different rates depending on the location.

Mr.Thirupathy,
in his petition before the court, said some trade unions have occupied
the parking areas (autorickshaw stands) and did not allow any new
entrant. Auto drivers at the stands formed groups and did not permit
other auto drivers to park their vehicles in the stands. They demanded
Rs.30, 000 to Rs.50,000 from the drivers towards charges for parking
their vehicles in the stands, he alleged. Though a representation was
made to the Corporation, it has not been considered, he added.

The
High Court in its order directed the Corporation to consider and pass
appropriate orders on the representation of Mr.Thirupathy within four
weeks.

Speaking to
The Hindu
, Mr.Thirupathy and other DMDK office bearers opposed the hegemony of
some unions and demanded that any auto driver with valid licence and
permits should be allowed to operate from any stand.

Fakruddin
Babu, general secretary, CITU Autorickshaw Drivers Union, welcomed the
Corporation move to regulate the auto stands but insisted that the
existing auto stands be allowed to continue. “We have previously sought
approval for 100 new auto stands. We have no objection to removing those
hindering traffic and we support regulating the stands,” he said. He,
however, denied that the unions were demanding money to admit new autos
into the stands. “If an auto driver died, a new entrant could be paying
some money to the family to take the place,” he maintained.

Welcoming
the Corporation decision, S.Pushpavanam, secretary, Consumer Protection
Council, Tamil Nadu, said autos are meant to be on the run and there
was no justification for unions or groups to claim jurisdiction over a
particular stand. “We have been demanding that the number of auto stands
be reduced. It is essential that the auto stands are streamlined and
regulated,” he said.