Dhanbad's auto drivers are expected to be a disciplined lot from next month with superintendent of police (SP) Rakesh Bansal reading the riot act to them, making it clear that they have to strictly abide by the dress code from April 1 besides following certain other rules that would help minimise accidents.
On Friday morning, members of Dhanbad Zilla Auto Chalak Sangh held awareness programmes for the drivers at Randhir Verma Chowk, Shramik Chowk, JP Chowk and Sariadhela Chowk to apprise them of the SP's directives that were issued at a meeting on March 22. The office-bearers also turned the detachable guardrails on the vehicles' right side into permanent ones with the help of mechanics.
At the March 22 meeting, in keeping with the Motor Vehicle Act<>.
The association was also told that they must fix the mandatory guardrails along the right-hand side of the vehicles to prevent any person other than the driver from mounting or alighting on that side. The drivers will also have to operate their vehicles only on the allotted routes and must park their vehicles at least 100 metres away from major squares and junctions to avoid traffic snarls.
The blue uniforms for the drivers of the 16,000-strong three-wheeler fleet was launched on March 25, 2012. But very few auto drivers take the dress code seriously.
"All the guidelines have been mentioned clearly to the auto association, which, in turn, will pass on the message to auto drivers. We expect them to strictly follow the rules from April 1," Bansal told The Telegraph.
General secretary of the auto drivers' association Chotan Singh said: "We are ready to extend all cooperation to them, but at the same time, we request the police to designate auto stands."
SP Bansal said that auto drivers could park their vehicles only on the roadside to pick/drop passengers.
In another move to rein in the rogue three-wheelers, the district transport department will be installing CCTV cameras at major squares beginning from Shramik Chowk besides establishing control rooms at two or three places.
