Traffic police have formed a committee to identify places in the city to be developed as autorickshaw stands following a directive from the Patna district administration.

Patna city superintendent of police (SP) and traffic SP Jayant Kant said: “A committee has been formed on Saturday to identify the places that can be developed as autorickshaw stands in the city. The committee consists of representatives from the traffic police, the city police and the transport department.”

Commenting on the work done by the committee, Kant said: “We have organised three meetings on Saturday and Sunday to figure out the possibilities for the development of the autorickshaw stands. However, it is not possible to give a specified time frame for the completion of the work.”

The directive is expected to address the demand of the autorickshaw union to provide stands to drivers to pick up and drop passengers. District magistrate N. Saravana Kumar said: “I have asked the Patna traffic superintendent of police to form a committee to identify the places that could be developed as autorickshaw stands.”

The district administration has been acting tough on the autorickshaw drivers and has issued several orders following the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and traffic rules.

According to the Motor Vehicles Act, an autorickshaw driver cannot park his vehicle at a random place or stop anywhere to pick up or drop passengers.

Random autorickshaw parking often leads to traffic problems in the city.

Raj Kumar Jha, the general secretary of the Bihar State Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association and Patna District Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association, said: “We have been demanding stands in the city for a long time. Once the stands are developed, it would solve the traffic problem. There are 29,000 autorickshaws in the city and only three auto stands. These auto stands, too, face encroachment problem.”