06 January,2011 07:17 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
Traffic police booth helps passengers with destination information and engages autorickshaws for them
Au00a0few months after MiD DAY noticed fleecing of passengers by autorickshaw drivers at the Pune railway station, a visit to the same place revealed a vastly changed picture. Finally, the passengers were smiling, thanks to an initiative of the traffic police.
A traffic police booth, opened five days ago, was seen regulating the autorickshaws, cracking down on auto drivers refusing fare or asking for exorbitant amounts, and taking down details of the rickshaw and its destination in case of women or children passengers.
The only ones complaining were the rickshaw drivers, who were seen resisting the new initiative with full force. They boldly stated that it would not last long.
Passengers, of course, hope the rickshaw drivers' prediction is wrong. They are praying the new initiative does not go the same way as the traffic police booth put up some years ago at the station to help passengers get prepaid rickshaws, but which became defunct over time.
The help booth has been put up near the Dargah, between Gate No. 3 and 1 of the railway station. Passengers getting off at the station approach the booth and inform the police about their destination, and the policemen help them engage a rickshaw, helpfully adding that they should not pay the rickshaw driver anything over and above the tariff by meter.
Rickshaw drivers said they were now forced to accept long-distance fares and that they were unhappy about it.
"For destinations beyond PMC limits, for example Hinjewadi and Pimpri-Chinchwad, we find it difficult to find passengers coming back to the city as share rickshaws openly ply in such areas and take away our business," said Jalil Shaikh, a rickshaw driver. "We are forced to come back empty."
Auto driver Altaf Sayyed said it was not fair to force rickshaw drivers dropping passengers at the station to line up there for passengers.
"The cops are forcing all rickshaw drivers coming to drop passengers at the railway station to stand in the queue. Here we have to wait almost four hours before we can get a passenger," said Sayyed. "If the cops continue this, we are sure rickshaw drivers will soon start asking passengers to get off much before the station."
Mahendra Shinde, another rickshaw driver, said the police were not even allowing them to charge for luggage.
"Passengers coming from other cities carry heavy bags and as the cops warn them against paying us extra money for luggage, it is becoming difficult for us," said Shinde.
Reacting on these allegations, Police Inspector Vijaykumar Palsule (Planning) of the Traffic Division said the help desk was there to stop autos from making illegal demands.
"It is because of the help booth now that there are restrictions on rickshaw drivers who earlier used to charge extra tariff from passengers or used to refuse fares," said Palsule. "The resistance originates from this attitude of overcharging or refusing fares. But we are not going to tolerate this. No rickshaws will be allowed to stand on adjacent road as it is a hindrance to traffic flow."
The initiative has helped improve the image of the police among passengers.
Bhavit Jain, a working professional from Bangalore who alighted at Pune railway station and wanted to head for Shrivardhan by a State Transport bus, was all praise for the traffic police. The help desk first told him where he could get a bus for Shrivardhan from, and then got him a rickshaw to take him there.
