Order on 40K more autos in B'lore stayed

Balancing act

Hearing a petition by Karnataka State Auto Drivers’ Welfare Joint Action Committee chairman Mohammed Abbas, Justice Hulvadi G Ramesh stayed the government order relaxing the cap on the number of autorickshaws.

The court directed the government not to register any more autorickshaws for now, and to submit a feasibility report on April 20 based on the road condition to accommodate an extra 40,000 autorickshaws.

Transport Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said: “We will do what the High Court has directed us to do. We will also present our case before it.” The petitioner had stated that increasing the number of autorickshaws from 85,000 to 1.25 lakh was not in the interests of the people.

The government decision would only benefit autorickshaw manufacturers and dealers. In 1985, the State had hesitated to increase the permits by just 5,000. But now it had agreed to issue 40,000 more permits. According to the petitioner, while taking the decision, the State had not considered road conditions and passenger density. He pleaded that the March 23 order should be quashed. Earlier, transport department officials had told Deccan Herald: “With the pace at which the department is working to eliminate illegal autos, the City will need new ones to meet the demand. Therefore, we decided to allow more autos on the road.”

A senior official explained that all 40,000 autos would not enter the roads at one go. “It will take at least five years for the 40,000 autos to hit the road. By then, the department would have taken away many of the illegal and old vehicles, creating a balance,” he added.