MCC identifies space for 181 auto stands

The proposal will be implemented once the Council approves it

The Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) in association with the police and the RTO have identified areas for 181 auto stands in the MCC limits.

There are 5,685 autorickshaws registered in Mangalore city. However, there are lack of facility for its parking. With the increase in number of autorickshaws, the auto stands running out of space is a common feature. As a result, illegal stands set up by different trade unions had begun to prop up in even small junctions and side roads, hampering free movement of vehicles. At a few places even the autorickshaws are parked in two rows, causing traffic jams and accidents.

The autorikshaws drivers and owners associations have been demanding to notify designated areas for parking of autorikshaws for the past several years. Now, the MCC officials with the help of RTO and auto unions have identified 181 auto stands.

The designated areas identified will be notified once the City Corporation Council approves it. The Council will be formed after Mayor is elected and the issue of auto stand will be included in the agenda of the council meeting, said Mangalore City Corporation in charge commissioner Srikanth Rao.

At present, there are only 83 notified designated areas for the parking of autos in the MCC limits. The district administration had notified 69 designated areas for parking of autos in the MCC limits in 1985. When the number of autorickshaws increased on the roads of Mangalore, the district administration had notified another 14 designated areas.
After 1992, the authorities had not taken any measures to notify the designated areas in the MCC limits, said autorickshaw drivers association office-bearers.

The office-bearers said that although the MCC had spent crore of rupees on widening and concreting of various roads, vehicles were still being parked along the sides of the roads. The purpose of widening the roads was to facilitate smooth flow of traffic, which was not happening.

“We had given a proposal for designating areas for about 300 auto stands in the MCC limits two to three years ago,” said the office-bearers.

A few auto stands in the city limits like that of Lady Hill have made their stands attractive. The members have grown cherry trees and also constructed a shed for the auto drivers to sit and take rest during free hours.