Thursday, Nov 25, 2004
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004 |
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Hyderabad
By Dennis Marcus Mathew
A woman takes her child on a two-wheeler as an overloaded autorickshaw passes by near a school in Secunderabad. Photo: Mohd. Yousuf
HYDERABAD, NOV. 24. After a brief lull the `school auto' debate is back. The three-wheeler drivers and the city traffic police are at loggerheads again. Autorickshaw drivers' unions on Tuesday repeated the demand they had raised during a protest rally on November 17 that they be allowed to carry 10 schoolchildren instead of the stipulated six. The debate, which had been raging on for over four years now, all the while the safety of tiny tots at stake, could now depend on political rigmarole with the unions wanting the Government to apply brakes on the traffic police drive against them. However, the police and transport departments are firm that there will be no compromise as far as safety of children is concerned.
Curbs in other metros
The Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Tejdeep Kaur Menon, says that Hyderabad is the only city where auto drivers are allowed to "stack children, not just 10, but at times even 15", into cramped autorickshaws. "We checked out with other metros. Nobody allows this risk. Only Bangalore allows autos to ferry schoolchildren, but there too, not more than six are allowed. In Mumbai and Kolkata, there is no such facility for schoolchildren and autos cannot carry more than three passengers. In Delhi, they can carry only 1½ times the number of passengers authorised," she points.
Flouting law
Even if other cities were allowing it, more than six schoolchildren in a three-passenger auto is against the law. For a four-passenger auto, the number permitted is eight. The Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, apart from pegging the numbers to six and eight for three and four-passenger autos respectively, clearly states that school bags, water bottles and lunch boxes should not be allowed to project outside the body of the vehicle. But the law is flouted blatantly here. The Transport Commissioner, R. M. Gonela, says officials will "stick to the rulebook" unless the Government calls for amendments. "But any cost, anything beyond eight is dangerous and is not advisable at all," he adds.
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