Autos ignore ban, keep cops on toes

Autos ignore ban, keep cops on toes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  19.05.2020

While the government has prohibited autorickshaws and taxis from plying during the extended lockdown, quite a few of the vehicles were spotted on city roads. Worse, most of the vehicles were packed, flouting physical distancing norms and upping the risk of infection.

A few share autorickshaws were spotted ferrying more than six passengers in Flower Bazaar, Esplanade, Kasimedu and Ennore. The law enforcement was stricter in T Nagar, Guindy, Velachery and Anna Nagar, with few autorickshaws out on the roads.

The violators kept police busy. Since Sunday night, 429 autorickshaws were seized in the city for violations. The autodrivers claimed to be out on personal work and emergencies when stopped by police. In case the violators cite hospital visits, police are seizing the license of the drivers and allowing them to proceed to reach hospitals. Others are booked for violation of CrPc 144 on the spot.

A senior police officer said the police personnel have been instructed to ensure that taxis and autorickshaws stayed off roads. “We are stopping all autorickshaws. Even if they have hospital stickers pasted on the windshields, we stop and check the receipts,” he said.

Police in Velachery had a tough time convincing a family who were taking their child to a hospital in an autorickshaw on Monday. Police took the licence of the autodriver and allowed the family to proceed but the violator protested demanding that the licence be returned to him. “We refused to return the license citing it is a complete violation of the law. Road users can go on and accuse us of being strict,” said a SI who was on duty at Velachery.

While they were strictly enforcing the government order, a few autorickshaws ply to transport essential services and have e-passes, a senior officer said.

Meanwhile, the violators are fleecing customers, with a few autorickshaws in Flower Bazaar charging ₹50 each for a 1-km ride to the high court. Some were even fleecing the guest workers trying to reach Central railway station, charging as much as ₹500 for a short ride.

NO ROOM FOR ERROR: More than 420 autorickshaws have been seized since Sunday night