Freeze on new auto stands adds to city's traffic woes

Currently, Pune city has 1.3L rickshaws but only 540 stands; RTO has not reviewed facilities for more than a decade

- Nadeem Inamdar

PUNE: With the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) not sanctioning new auto-rickshaw stands for over a decade now, there is a disproportionate increase in the number of registered autos vis-à-vis the number of auto stands across the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR), leading to auto-rickshaws halting randomly and worsening the traffic congestion in the city.

Currently, Pune city has 1.3 lakh registered auto-rickshaws but only 540 designated stands, while Pimpri-Chinchwad has 42,600 rickshaws with just 150 functional stands.

According to the traffic police, the absence of sufficient auto-rickshaw stands is forcing auto drivers to pick up and drop passengers at random locations, creating bottlenecks.

Passenger inconvenience The shortage of auto stands is directly contributing to rising traffic snarls, claim traffic police officials. The problem is palpable in congested areas such as the old city where narrow roads leave little space for wayward parking. Meanwhile, in suburbs such as Viman Nagar, students and office-goers struggle due to the lack of designated stands nearby.