KOLKATA: Fleecing passengers, curtailing routes on a whim and misbehaving with commuters over change: complaints against auto operators fly thick and fast. Now, a new grievance--that of illegally blocking the main crossings to pick up passengers, contributing to jams--has made it to the list, with the traffic police's Facebook page receiving at least two such complaints a day.The Saturday's accident of two autos being hit by a truck at Baguiati was a result of the vehicles illegally blocking VIP Road.A quick scan of the complaints on the traffic police's Facebook page showed that most complaints were from Grant Street near Esplanade, near Sovabazar Metro station and Ultadanga. For example, a commuter, Abhjit Phoenix, wrote on Wednesday: "These days it's very difficult to catch auto from Sovabazar metro... because there is no auto stand behind metro like before, and catching Ultadanga-bound autos on the run is quite inconvenient. Further, most of the autos coming from B K Pal charge excess fare ie, Rs15 instead of Rs10... please do look into the issue. "Cops from the Ultadanga police station had earlier identified illegal parking as a major reason for accidents in the area.While taking a turn from S N Banerjee Road through Grant Street towards Lenin Sarani, Sukanya Pal, who faced the wrath of auto drivers for apparently asking them to stick to rules, wrote on FB: "When my driver tried to reason with the auto operators to at least leave one lane open for other vehicles to pass through, they turned abusive."Traffic sergeants said their rebuke was met with immediate threats. "I earmarked lanes at Ultadanga for autos around six months ago. But their union leaders warned me against it. Recently, following consent from my OC, I was to launch a drive against errant autos. But before I could begin, I was transferred to an insignificant department," claimed an officer.But auto union leaders didn't seem to find anything wrong in illegal blocking of roads. A union leader on the Sovabazar-Ultadanga route said, "Most routes have been operating for years. We possibly can't park our autos on pavements. Why are the complaints suddenly being directed at us?" Lalbazar has directed all its 25 traffic guards to identify sites for temporary stands.Sources said they were considering two options: one, to specify parking slots for autos and secondly , to start a system under which, only a handful of vehicles will be allowed to wait at the busy pick-up points, while the rest will wait at a more deserted area nearby. "At Garia, all autos wait at a distance, while three to five of them are allowed near the busy crossing to pick up passengers. At Behala Chowrasta, we have separate channels for six routes," said a Lalbazar officer.DC (traffic) Solomon V Nesakumar said they were doing their best to check the menace. "Unlike popular belief, we regularly issue tickets to auto drivers for illegal parking," he claimed. Sources said they sought reports directly from the headquarters.When told about the police action, complainant Sukanya told TOI, "Taking stock will not help unless the situation on the ground changes."

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