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Police opinion on plying of cycle-rickshaws irks Court

Photo: S. Subramanium

Old World Charm: The good old cycle-rickshaw, the plying of which was opposed by the Delhi police in an affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court, has drawn censure from the Bench.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Delhi police for their opinion that “allowing cycle-rickshaws to ply on the Capital’s arterial roads will come in the way of efforts to make Delhi a world-class city”.

The police apprised the Court of their opinion on the plying of cycle-rickshaws in the Capital in an affidavit filed in reply to a petition by a non-government organisation, Manushi, on the draft cycle-rickshaw policy of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Making sharp observations on the police approach over plying of cycle-rickshaws in the Capital, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A. P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar asked whether the rickshaw-pullers had no right to live in a world-class city.

The Bench asked “whether the rickshaw-pullers are responsible for all the ills plaguing the city like unauthorised colonies and slums?”

The affidavit filed by the police reflected the low esteem in which they held the city’s rickshaw-pullers, the Bench observed.

Commenting on the language of the affidavit where the rickshaw-pullers were charged with littering the city, the Bench said that “it is not expected from a public authority and there could be nothing more shocking than this”.

The affidavit said that allowing cycle-rickshaws to ply on the arterial roads would certainly not contribute to the vision of making Delhi a world-class city. “The rickshaw-puller lives on the pavement, rests in his rickshaw, eats and washes himself on the pavement which not only causes strain on the civic infrastructure of the city but also encourages them to develop unauthorised colonies or jhuggis giving rise to social problems in the city,” the affidavit charged.

The affidavit also drew the Court’s attention to slowing down of the speed of fast-moving traffic due to plying of cycle-rickshaws on the city’s arterial roads.

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