Autos commonly double park on SV RoadBorivlis biggest traffic offenders are not private cars or BEST buses, but auto-rickshaws. Or at least it would seem so if you go by the amount of money the Borivli traffic police collect fining autos in the suburb Rs 1.5 lakh per month.

In Jan alone we collected Rs 1.5 lakh from auto drivers. But our revenue from all the other vehicles put together was only Rs 50,000, says Ashok Tulsiram Patil, senior police inspector, Borivli traffic police.

The money is deposited at the head office from where it is allotted for installing signals, painting crossings, etc., claims Patil.

The reasons, according to Patil, are simple Borivli has a large number of autos and they break rules most frequently. There are close to 12,000 autos here as compared to other vehicles, which are about 7,000 in number, he says. Moreover, they are the ones who flout the maximum traffic rules, he adds.

According to Patil, an auto driver can be fined for illegal parking, double parking, parking near a bus stop, at corners of the road and taking passengers in the drivers seat. They can also be fined Rs 300 for not wearing the uniform (khakee for drivers and white for drivers who also own their vehicles) or the badge, reveals Patil.

The most common rules that auto drivers break are that of illegal parking, which means that they dont park at the auto stand, and double parking, that is when autos are parked in more than one row, thereby obstructing traffic, explains the senior inspector.

The traffic police believe that the 21 auto stands in the suburb (which includes east and west) are sufficient to accommodate all the autos. So far we have no plans for new auto stands in the suburb, says Patil.
However, auto drivers point out that there is not a single stand on SV Road, where the demand for the service is the maximum.

It does not make sense to park autos at Devidas Lane when the demand is on SV Road, especially near the railway station, says driver Madhav Singh, who has been fined thrice since Jan for illegal parking. Asks Hariram Chaurasia, a 32-year-old auto driver, Why cant there be a stand near the station?

The traffic police say that an auto stand at SV Road is not feasible. Our purpose in fining these auto drivers is to decongest the roads. SV Road is a very congested road and a stand will congest it again, says Patil. He points out that autos can use the parking facility in the market lane (near municipal market), which is just off SV Road.

pooja@mid-day.com

12,000
The number of autos on Borivli roads

7,000
The number of other vehicles on Borivli roads

Rs 1.5 lakh
The fine collected from autos in Jan 2004

Rs 50,000
The fine collected from autos in Jan 2004

Source: Senior inspector Patil