Hyderabad: The traffic police provide authorised spots as auto-rickshaw stands, but auto drivers still halt wherever they please, disrupting the flow of traffic.
In many areas in Cyberabad, Begumpet, Tarnaka, Uppal, and Marredpally, among others, three-wheelers wait for passengers at any spot.
P. Anjaneyulu, who works for a software firm and lives in Dilsukhnagar says he gets late for office because of autos lining up even on congested roads, not giving enough space for vehicles to pass through and causing traffic jams. Traffic police sometimes serve parking tickets to illegally parked autos but the practice is not consistent and thus ineffective. In many colony roads, especially near colleges and schools, auto stands are mushrooming, blocking the way for parents.
Aditya Agarwal posted a picture of autos parked on a road and tweeted: “The autos you see in this pic are not moving, they literally stop & fight to take passengers on middle of the road. This blocks the traffic for kilometers before SLN Terminus (near Gachibowli) request strict action & traffic management here.”
An auto driver on condition of anonymity said in defence of auto drivers: “The locations that traffic police are giving us are not strategic for passenger service, and no one will approa-ch us if we keep waiting there. We are also helpless in certain circumstances."
Sathi Reddy from the Telangana Auto Union says there are not enough auto stands in the city “and many a times, people are reluctant to come till the auto stand to take an auto. As a result, sometimes many autowallas make their own stands depending on the demand.”
