Utter chaos prevailed at busy Gunj area following illegal parking of vehicles and encroachment of roads by shop-keepers and vendors
Autos fleece commuters with heavy charges for short distance as there are no meters
Besides, overloading of autos goes unchecked in Karimnagar in spite of several accidents
KARIMNAGAR, APRIL 08, 2024: Most of the auto-rickshaw drivers in the district openly flout the Traffic rules and regulations laid down by the government, but still they go scot free.
The Traffic police also conduct inspections for name sake and make them go scot-free for obvious reasons. Majority of traffic snarls are caused in various parts of Karimnagar due to the auto-rickshaw menace and unscientific execution of so-called Smart City project by the then BRS government.
It is for the auto-wallahs to encroach the roads and park their vehicles at their will especially at the free-left areas and cause traffic snarls. The autos openly flout norms of no U turn in the glaring presence of the Traffic police and no action is taken against them. They create their own parking addas by encroaching the roads and putting up a sign board as ‘auto-stand’ without any ratification by the authorities concerned including Traffic police, MCK, and others.
Auto-rickshaw drivers are required to wear their uniforms at all times with their public service badge displayed properly. However, neither do they do that, nor do they display the vehicle number and name of the driver inside the vehicle, causing inconvenience mainly to female passengers.
Above all, there are no meters on the auto-rickshaws and they fleece the gullible masses at their will. The minimum charges the auto-wallahs ranges from Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kilometer distance as there is no supervision by the authorities concerned to install meters in the autos.
There is a norm that the auto-rickshaws from the rural areas should not enter the Karimnagar town. But, it is the autos coming from the rural area, which are adding to the Traffic woes of Karimnagar town. All the autos from the rural areas are over-loaded and causing several inconvenience to the commuters and charging exorbitantly.
The Traffic police also conduct checking of autos to remove loud speakers and extra seating arrangements only as an eye-wash to win over the sympathies of higher officials. In contrary, the loud speakers and extra-seats are intact in the autos and they ply overloaded 24×7 in the district.
Surprisingly, the Traffic police had conducted an awareness meeting with the auto-drivers in the police headquarters in Karimnagar town on Monday. It was shocking to observe that majority of auto-drivers have attended the meeting without uniforms. Karimnagar ACP Narender addressed the drivers and there was no mention of over-loading of autos or fixation of tariffs by installing meters on par with other cities in the state.
It was surprising to note that the ACP had instructed the autos to park their vehicles at the allocated parking lots, when it was not done by any official and it was encroached by the auto-wallahs on their own by erecting a sign board and hoisting a flag. In this meeting, Traffic inspector Kareemullah and Ramesh, One town inspector Sarilal and others were also present.
On the other hand, thanks to the visionary policing of the Karimnagar Traffic police, it was utter chaos at busy Gunj area in Karimnagar town on Monday evening. The traffic went haywire following the illegal parking of vehicles and encroachment of roads by the vendors and shop-keepers.
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