[sustran] Re: [pttfgen:2819] Cycle rickshaws need of the hour, ban arbitrary: Court

[Sudhir]

One more -
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Free-The-Roads/articleshow/5561368.cms

<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Free-The-Roads/articleshow/5561368.cms>"While
the desired road space in cities is roughly 33 per cent" - where did they
get this ??




On 13 February 2010 03:10, Ranjit Gadgil <ranjit.gadgil.1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> However the media is behaving like one!
>
> The Times of India has subtly twisted the story to make it sound as if this
> was a poor decision. Megha Suri has been doing this quite consistently. She
> quotes dubious "experts" and puts the blame on traffic on cycle rikshaws!
>
> Deflated cops brace for
> chaos<
> http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2010/02/11&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00200&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T
> >
>
> The high court may have given rickshaw-pullers a reason to rejoice but an
> already stretched traffic police is keeping its fingers crossed
>
> *The HC decision to remove cap on the number of rickshaws in the city has
> evoked strong reaction from traffic experts and police. They say that the
> slow mode of transport will only add to chaos and more mishaps on roads*
>
>
> *Megha Suri Singh | TNN*
>
>
> Even as Delhi High Court ruled that there wont be any upper cap on the
> number of cycle rickshaws in the city and banned confiscation and crushing
> of the rickshaws, traffic experts said that allowing rickshaws to mushroom
> will only lead to absolute chaos on city roads.
> The traffic police, too, have for long held the view that cycle rickshaws
> need to be banned on arterial roads as they cause congestion and accidents.
> Experts feel that rickshaws move at slow speed on main roads and
> rickshaw-pullers are unaware of the traffic laws of the road. In a city
> where over 30 modes of transport co-exist , slow moving vehicles especially
> cycle rickshaws are one of the major causes of congestion. At present,
> rickshaws are banned on arterial roads. But this would change after
> Wednesdays order. Cycle rickshaws are one of the major causes of congestion
> on Delhi roads. They should not be allowed on main roads, and not at all on
> express highways as they are vulnerable to accidents and slow down traffic,
> said Rohit Baluja, traffic expert and President , Institute of Road Traffic
> Education (IRTE).
> The traffic police have held the view that rickshaws are fine for
> short-distance , local trips. The cops feel that with limited manpower, and
> no powers to confiscate or crush a rickshaw, prosecution will be badly hit
> and there could be chaos .
> When asked about implications of the order, senior officers refused to
> comment. We can comment after seeing the order, said a senior traffic
> police
> officer.
> The long-term solution, the government feels, is creation of dedicated
> tracks for cycles and cycle rickshaws along all major roads.
> Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said: With issues like climate change
> looming large, I dont think we can look at non-motorised vehicles (NMVs)
> like cycle rickshaws as elements which can be removed from Delhis
> integrated
> transport network. The police needs to support NMV lanes even along
> highspeed corridors.
> megha.suri at timesgroup .com
>
> On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 9:13 AM, Ashok Sreenivas
> <ashok.sreenivas at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >  Sometimes, the law is not an ass!
> >
> >
> >
> http://blog.taragana.com/law/2010/02/10/cycle-rickshaws-need-of-the-hour-ban-arbitrary-court-20114/
> >
> > The Delhi High *Court* Wednesday termed the ban on cycle rickshaws on the
> > city’s arterial roads “arbitrary” and stressed that non-motorised
> vehicles
> > were the need of the hour in the wake of rising pollution and global
> > warming.
> >
> > A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, Justice S.
> > Muralidhar and Justice Ravinder Bhatt said: Planet earth seems to be
> > running out of options unless unorthodox and sometimes unpopular policies
> > are pursued. Whatever be the nuances about the technical soundness of the
> > exact extent of global warming , the signs are self evident - erratic
> > weather patterns, drying rivers and a depleting water table, food
> > insecurity, retreating glaciers, drastically reducing forest cover.
> >
> > Turning down the traffic police’s submission that cycle rickshaw pullers
> > create a nuisance on the roads, the court said: It would be important for
> > public authorities, particularly law enforcement agencies, to display
> > sensitivity when exercising the coercive powers under various statutes to
> > the vulnerable situation in which the underprivileged populations, of
> which
> > the rickshaw pullers form an integral part, are placed.
> >
> > This is a fit case where authorities should explore all options to reduce
> > road congestion and consider all proposals from an overall or holistic
> > perspective, the bench said while forming a committee to explore the
> options
> > available.
> >
> > Our country is vast with an ever-growing population, alarming numbers of
> > whom continue to swell the list of the unemployed. In these
> circumstances,
> > any opportunity towards gainful employment, howsoever slight, is worth
> > exploring - it may be part-time employment or full-time, it may be
> seasonal
> > or regional. If these are recognised as legitimate, the conclusion that
> > cyclerickshaw plying is offensive to human dignity cannot be understood
> at
> > all, the bench remarked.
> >
> > Terming that every person has the right to earn their living, the court
> > said:Prohibiting a class of impoverished persons altogether of the chance
> of
> > livelihood in a category of non-dangerous commercial activity, i.e.
> hiring
> > cycle rickshaws for plying cannot be supported as a reasonable
> restriction.
> >
> > Quashing the Municipal Corporation of Delhis (MCD) policy of ‘owner
> should
> > be plier’, the *court* said: The owner-plier policy, even though valid 22
> > years ago, cannot be regarded as non-discriminatory and valid now. It is
> > arbitrary.
> >
> > The court was hearing a petition by NGO Manushi and Initiative for
> > Transportation & Development Programmes that the court’s order and the
> MCD’s
> > policy of banning rickshaws from arterial roads and Chandni Chowk area in
> > Old Delhi was arbitrary and violated the fundamental rights ofrickshaw
> > pullers.
> >
> > The petition also criticised the ceiling imposed on the number of
> licences
> > granted to rickshaw pullers in the city.
> >
> > The bench prohibited the MCD from confiscating and crushing cycle
> rickshaws
> > without licence, terming the action unjustified.
> >
> > Stressing the need for non-motorised mode of transport, the court said:
> The
> > figures of registered motor vehicles are in excess of 60 lakh… As far as
> > private commercial vehicles catering to the public are concerned, there
> are
> > 76,090 auto rickshaws and 30,809 taxis on the road. Thus, there is a felt
> > need for non-motorized road transportation, which the cycle rickshaws
> > offer.”
> >
> > The *court* then directed the MCD to provide parking space to cycle
> > rickshaws as well.
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Sudhir Gota
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