Wednesday, 21 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Transport department to form committee for regulating e-rickshaw operation
The proposal of the regional transport office of Dehradun to grant stage carriage permits to old city buses was rejected in the meeting of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) on Tuesday considering the safety of passengers and pollution-related concerns. It was also decided that the Transport department will form a committee along with the police to prepare guidelines regarding the operation of e-rickshaws on various routes.
These decisions were taken in the RTA meeting chaired by Garhwal commissioner Sushil Kumar which was joined by the regional transport officer (administration) and RTA secretary Sunil Sharma and RTO (enforcement) Shailesh Tiwari among other officials. The regional transport office proposed granting permits to old buses like the new buses considering that it will improve the condition of the almost dying city bus network in the city. However, the RTA officials opined in the meeting that the operation of old buses will potentially compromise with passengers’ safety and could lead to more air and noise pollution in the city and the department is currently working to eliminate such vehicles to promote eco-friendly vehicles, said Sharma.
Considering the increasing number of e-rickshaws in Dehradun, which is nearly 3,000 as per the officials, the Transport department will form a committee along with the police to work on making guidelines regarding the operation of e-rickshaws on various routes and how many of these should be allowed to operate in the city. “The committee will work on all factors regarding the operation of e-rickshaws including routes on which these should be allowed to operate and their timing of operation in the city. It will also work on restricting the number of e-rickshaws in the city,” said Sharma. Besides this, various other decisions were also taken in the meeting.
The RTA also authorised the RTA secretary to issue licenses to businessmen or persons engaged in the travel agency business. The speed limit for vehicles operating in mountainous areas of Dehradun, Uttarkashi and Tehri districts was also determined as 20 to 45 kilometres per hour. The department will give permits to smaller four-wheeler vehicles to operate on routes where city buses do not operate. It will also grant permits to mini buses to operate on 24 new routes. Sharma said that at present, 156 city buses operate on 10 routes of Dehradun and the operation on two routes has been stopped by the bus owners. The RTA has directed the officials concerned to draft a proposal for the operation of mini buses on these routes after conducting a survey. The Garhwal commissioner also decided in the meeting to give some additional time as a last chance to the remaining Vikram operators who are yet to apply for stage carriage permits to operate clean fuel vehicles.
After this, the department will open applications to get permits for the general public as per the vacancies. The RTA also decided to extend the route for buses operating on the Jhajhra-Premnagar-Raipur route till Shamshergarh on temporary permits. It also decided to extend the route of mini buses that operate on the Parade Ground route till Malsi Pulia and Bhartu Chowk on a rotation basis. The RTA also directed the officials concerned to again review those routes where city buses are not providing regular services to either shrink or expand the said routes for operators to take action accordingly to ensure public transport is accessible to the commuters there. “Various decisions were taken to ensure public transport improves in the division in urban and rural areas. Officials have been directed to work accordingly in their respective areas,” added the commissioner.
