Assam: Electric rickshaws create traffic jams at Boko

BOKO: The battery-operated rickshaws, also known as e-rickshaws, are now responsible for the daily creation of severe traffic jams in Boko Town. Following the arrival of hundreds of e-rickshaws at Boko town along the highway, a severe traffic bottleneck was caused on National Highway 17. It should be noted that numerous persons have been killed and injured after colliding with e-rickshaws as a result of disregard for traffic laws.

A mechanic for e-rickshaws named Anupam Rabha claimed that there are currently four shops in Boko selling about 100 e-rickshaws each month.

Rupjyoti Kalita, the Kamrup District Transport Officer, responded that “e-rickshaws running on highways is strictly prohibited” when he was questioned about possible options. For this reason, we recently held a meeting in Boko to raise awareness of road safety. We will take legal action against e-rickshaws if they continue to violate the laws and regulations. “I will send a team to check and control the matter,” he added. A team and Krishna Kanta Patgiri, an enforcement inspector for the Kamrup district, visited Boko on Saturday. “We have seen the chaos at Boko town, which was brought on by the e-rickshaws,” Patgiri remarked. However, we were unable to control the traffic since there was not enough room in the Boko Police Station to store the e-rickshaws we had seized for breaking traffic laws.

When asked the Boko PS Officer in Charge Phanindra Nath, he replied, “We had seized e- rickshaws who broke rules many times. For some days the e- rickshaws obey the rules and regulations but after some time they again start violating the rules.”

“If we take any actions against the violators, drivers of the e- rickshaws then charges start flowing that Assam Police has been brutal against the poor and the working class,” added OC Phanindra Nath.

In place of warning the drivers not to break the law, some so-called community leaders, according to a number of reports, have convinced the drivers of e-rickshaws to surround police stations and stage protests if the police seize the vehicles.

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