The Times of India 29.11.2013
Civic body to legalize 10,000 cycle carts
CHANDIGARH: With an eye on parliamentary polls, the MC has started providing instant benefits to the weaker section of the society. The mayor on Thursday announced that the civic body authority will resume registration of cycle carts (rehris) after a gap of 22 years. The move will legalize around 10,000 illegal cycle carts in the city. The authority also decided not to issue any license of rickshaw pullers and, thus, anybody can run cycle rickshaw in the city. Both of these agendas will come up in the monthly general house meeting of Friday.
The MC is haphazardly bringing the abovementioned as table agenda in the meeting and has no answer to questions like how much time the bylaws will take to come into force, how the system would run after accommodating thousands of additional cycle carts and cycle rickshaws and how will the authorities ensure to vacate the government land from encroachers.
While announcing these developments in a media briefing, mayor Subhash Chawla claimed that resumption of licenses of cycle carts will provide direct benefits to 10,000 families in the city. He added that these cycle-carts will not be allowed to station at a given place, but will move in the internal roads of residential areas. He, however, failed to tell how the issues like traffic chaos and law and order situation will be tackled.
"It was the Congress that stopped legalization of cycle-carts and street vendors in 1992 and now as the polls are approaching and the Congress is on the receiving end due to their corrupt and anti-people deeds, they are trying to befool the people. They won"t be successful," said Harmohan Dhawan, former union minster and senior BJP leader.
Sources in the UT administration revealed that since the things are in initial stages, it would take time to frame the by-laws.
As per MC records, there are round 2,800 licensed cycle-carts and cycle rickshaws in the city. Out of these, around 1,000-1,200 are of cycle-rickshaws and rest are of cycle-carts. The MC also claimed that soon the wages of contractual sanitation employees will also enhanced.
