The Hindu         04.12.2014   

Corporation to regularise auto stands

Even as the new rate for autorickshaws with digitalised
meter comes into effect on Friday, the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation
has decided to regularise stands for autorickshaws in the city.

The
autorickshaw drivers will have to pay licence fee for parking vehicles
in the identified stands of the corporation. The decision will come into
force immediately once it receives approval from the Tiruchi District
Traffic Advisory Committee for permitting stands at 337 locations. The
proposal has been approved by the Corporation Council that met here a
few days ago.

The proposed move was expected to
increase the number of autorickshaw stands from existing 337 to 674 in
the city. They have been classified into A, B, C grades depending upon
the location of them. The stands at thickly populated areas, bus stands,
railway junction, and railway stations will be brought under A grade
stand category.

The licence fee for parking in “A”
category stand has been fixed at Rs. 1,000. It is Rs. 750 and Rs. 350
for B and C categories. A provision has been given to pay the fee once
in six months.

Sources said that the corporation
authorities had visited most of the identified auto stands and conducted
a survey. They had been impressed upon the need for regularisation of
them.

A survey revealed that there were 3,844
autorickshaws in the city. Nearly 10 per cent of them had been operating
from “A” grade stands.

The move has received good support from many autorickshaw drivers.

“It
is a good attempt. It will give official approval for operating from
identified stands,” says C. Annadurai, secretary, Indira Gandhi College
Auto Stand.

B. Hussain Babu, an autorickshaw driver at Anna Nagar, said it was a long-pending demand for autorickshaw drivers.

They were ready to pay the parking fee. However, the authorities should ensure that it was only nominal.

A
senior official of the corporation said each stand should be
administered by a self-regulated body of autorickshaw drivers in the
specified location. The members would be given photo identity cards by
the corporation. Autorickshaws, which were allotted a parking lot, would
not be allowed to park in other stands. All drivers should wear
uniforms while on duty. They should follow standard rules and
regulations. Action would be taken against those violating them.