PATHANKOT DIARY Illegal autos bane of city THE three poke marks on the once scenic city of Pathankot are the illegally plying auto-rickshaws, stray cattle menace and the seven railways crossings on the narrow gauge Jogindernagar-Pathankot stretch which remain closed for long periods of time throwing life in a state of disarray. While the civic authorities are trying hard to find a solution to the last two, everybody, including the Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities, seems to be washing their hands of the auto-rickshaw problem. This, in fact, is threatening to snowball into a major controversy-politically and socially. Mayor Anil Vasudeva says that just 950 autorickshaws exist in the registration records of the MC. He, however, adds in the same breath, “Practically speaking, there are more than 5,000 autos plying illegally on the roads creating traffic hazards anywhere and everywhere. To complicate matters, they pay registration tax (RC) to the state government while they use roads of the MC. The state government should divert a part of the tax to the MC coffers,” said a worried Vasudeva. These auto drivers listen to nobody, not even horns and sirens emanating from police vehicles and ambulances. “They are masters of all they survey. They seldom adhere to traffic rules. The reason is that they have a strong union. In case of any mis-happening, or accident, one phone call from the erring auto driver to his union leaders means that a score of his colleagues land up at the site to diffuse the situation.” These drivers ply their vehicles after coming in the city from as far as Dhariwal, Batala, Sujanpur, Gurdaspur and Dinanagar. The problem is that a majority of them have got registered as voters in the city. “This makes it a fairly decent vote bank for politicians who use them during the elections. In the 2014 and 2017 parliamentary polls and during 2017 Assembly polls, these auto drivers voted en-masse for the BJP. That is why they are a favoured a lot by the saffron party leaders,” said a Congress man. Mayor Vasudeva, however, denied they form a crucial BJP vote bank. But, in any case, admitted that it was becoming a difficult task to reign them in. The question is who will bell the cat? The police or the MC officials?

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