Disaster run: Jammed autos can topple and kill

CHARMINAR: Autos overloaded with passengers have become a menace in Old City as drivers doing brisk business put lives of pedestrians and commuters at risk.
Sunday's tragic accident at Shamsheergunj in which a rice-mill worker, A Jangaiah, was crushed to death after an overcrowded auto hit him, is a fresh example of how the front tyre of auto can give away under pressure and cause freak accidents.
Since RTC bus service in Old City is few, people are forced to opt for shared passenger autos as a mode of transport.The overcrowded autos, commonly known as “trip autos“ charge `10-15 rupees for short distances. A recent crackdown by police failed to make errant autos fall in line.
Despite slapping of fines against truant auto rickshaws and launch of safety-related awareness programmes, brazen violation of the safety rules by many drivers is all too visible. Speeding autos are also a common sight in Old City .
The menace is commonly seen from Falaknuma to Charminar, Moghalpura to Falaknuma, Hafez Baba Nagar to Charminar, Santoshanagar to Nayapul,Saidabad to Purani Haveli and Barkas to Chandrayangutta in Old City , Kachiguda to Amberpet in East Zone and Langer Houz to Nalan Nagar in west zone.
According to the motor vehicle rules, apart from the driver only three passengers are allowed to travel in a passenger auto, but traffic police wing finds itself helpless as the menace of overcrowding is on the rise which put lives at risk. “We are regularly booking cases against the er ring auto drivers but to no avail. There has been a special drive to prevent autos with more number of passengers in the past too,“ said ACP Traffic J Bhadreshwar. The traffic police has been in continuous crackdown against the erring auto drivers as they have booked 5044 violation cases in 2016 and 17001 in 2015, but most of them are not related to over-crowding In the last two years, the population of auto rickshaws in the twin cities has reached a peak in Hyderabad roads in 2016. It accomodated as many as 1,077,795 autos compared to a mere 97,710 in the year, 2015.