City comes to a halt as public transport goes on strike

Public transport in Delhi was crippled on Thursday as the auto, taxi unions and state transport operators went for a one-day strike, opposing the Centre’s new Bill on road safety and transport. Under the proposed ‘Road Transport and Safety Bill-2014’, the fines for violating traffic rules have been increased from Rs 100 – as charged under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 – to Rs 5,000.

Passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport had to depend on radio cabs and long queues were seen both at the airport and the railway station.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari appealed to the transporters to call off their strike, even promising to negotiate on the hefty fines that the new Bill proposes for minor traffic violations. Under the provisions of the new Bill, if a child is killed in a road accident by any driver, he will be punished with a cash fine of Rs 3 lakh and imprisonment of up to seven years. While in case of an animal’s death in a road mishap, the fine could be Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment of up to four years. The new Bill will also enable the state government to allow private carriages on state roads, causing financial losses to the state transport corporations. The Bill has stringent punishment clauses including Rs 5,000 fine for drivers jumping red lights and not putting on seat belts. It also has provisions to impose Rs 15,000 fine or one year jail for drunken driving.

In city, the main grouse of auto drivers was the forcible installation of GPS instruments that can cost up to Rs 3,000 each. They are concerned that the fine for jumping a red light would be raised from Rs 100 to Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000.