Walled city to be cleared of thela rickshaws

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MAY 14.

#Residents of the Walled City area here have welcomed the decision of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to ban goods carrying ``thela rickshaws'' during peak hours and said it would help in improving the traffic flow.

#In a recent order last week, the MCD said no thela rickshaws would be allowed in the entire Walled City area of 11.59 km between 8 and 11 in the morning and again between 4 and 7 in the evening daily.

#``This was long awaited as this will at least decongest the narrow lanes and bylanes of the Walled City during peak hours. These cycle rickshaws have been the main reason for the traffic chaos in this part of the city,'' said Mr. Krishna Kant Saxena, a senior citizen residing at Sitaram Bazaar.

#Conceding that this measure was a ``welcome reprieve'', Mr. Ved Prakash Gola, who lives in Katra Gokul Shah, said even the passenger cycle-rickshaws should have been included in the order. ``These are of major nuisance value and have resulted in a large number of road accidents. At least for six hours a day the roads would have been clear from these rickshaws,'' he said.

#According to the Additional Commissioner (Hq.) Mr. Ramesh Negi, they would start enforcing the order in the next few days after the public, traders and thela-rickshaw drivers are informed about this. Though there was resistance from local businessmen who heavily relied on these ``thelas'' for the transportation of their goods in the extremely narrow lanes, they have been more or less convinced about this and have agreed not to hire or take the assistance of these thelas during peak hours.

#Though there are no official figures available on the number of rickshaws, officials said that most of them are plying without any valid license and they must be in their thousands. ``They virtually choke every main road of the Walled City during peak hours, resulting in frequent and long hours of traffic jams all around,'' Mr. Negi said.

#Conceding that the civic body faced manpower problem as far as enforcement was concerned, Mr. Negi said a special tab would be kept on the flow of traffic from slum clusters of Yamuna Pushta. ``A majority of these rickshaws come from this area. If we are able to control them, we will be able to solve about 80 per cent of the problem. We have deployed our staff here,'' he said.

#Mr. Negi said the order would be enforced strictly, and if any of the goods carrying cycle rickshaws or thelas were found during the peak hours they would be impounded.

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