Following clash, autos and totos stay off road

Commuters were harassed at Bandel in Hooghly with auto-rickshaws and totos remaining off the road on Thursday protesting against the clash that broke out between auto-rickshaw and toto drivers following a dispute over getting control over a parking lot.

There had been a long standing problem over parking of the both auto-rickshaws and totos in the same area at Bandel station in Hooghly.

Auto-rickshaws had been restricting toto drivers from parking their vehicles near the auto-rickshaw 

stand as they were taking all their passengers at a much lesser fare.

On Wednesday, some toto drivers were allegedly beaten up when they went to park their vehicles near the auto-rickshaw stand. It led to a major trouble as a large section of toto and auto-rickshaw drivers got engaged in a clash.

The toto drivers wanted to create a separate stand to park their vehicles near the auto-rickshaw stand. But some auto-rickshaw drivers restricted them saying some more autho-rickshaws will be parked from the next day at the spot chosen by the toto drivers.

Senior police officers intervened and brought the situation under control when the clash broke out between the two groups. The district police held a meeting in this regard and would take up the matter with the district administration.

Protesting against the clash, around 350 auto-rickshaws on 10 different routes from Bandel station remained off the road causing inconvenience to hundred of commuters.

The toto drivers were also not allowed to ply their vehicles. A large contingent of police was posted to avoid further deterioration of the law and order situation in the area.

Hundreds of people visit Bandel Church in December and January. Thus the visitors too were highly inconvenienced failing to get any last mile transport facility after reaching Bandel station by train.