A section of e-rickshaw drivers, banned by Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on the capital’s Main Road from Sunday, September 1, targeted their ire at a city bus.
Two passengers sustained minor injuries when e-rickshaw drivers pelted stones at a bus near the main road overbridge after the RMC rolled out a fleet of 10 city buses as a replacement for e-rickshaws.
The RMC banned e-rickshaws from this new month on the capital’s busiest artery in a bid to ease snarls. As an alternative, the civic body rolled out buses from Albert Ekka Chowk to Rajendra Chowk and back, charging Rs 5 as one-way fare for the 4km route.
Anticipating trouble on Sunday, RMC had deployed enforcement officers on the main road and Ranchi traffic police had alerted police stations on the route — Kotwali (near Albert Ekka Chowk), Daily Market, Chutia and Doranda (near Rajendra Chowk).
But around 1.30pm, some e-rickshaw drivers pelted stones at city bus JH01CK 7486 with around 20 passengers on its way to Rajendra Chowk. Its rear window was smashed and two men inside the bus received minor injured.
Immediately, drivers of all 10 city buses parked their vehicles at Albert Ekka Chowk, refusing to ply again. Buses started moving again around 3pm when policemen were deputed on the route.
Ranchi traffic SP Ajit Peter Dungdung justified the ban on e-rickshaws on main road. “E-rickshaws are mushrooming they all want to ply on the main road. So, traffic on the main road is unmanageable. An FIR will be lodged against those who disrupted the bus service,” he said. “Passengers have welcomed the bus service,” he added.
RMC deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya said the RMC would not buckle before the e-rickshaw owners.
E-rickshaw drivers claimed the city bus service would not help commuters as the buses operate on a fixed route. “No good will come out of this experiment,” said one. “We will lose our livelihood and passengers will face trouble.”
Ranchi has 7,000 e-rickshaws of which around 400 operate on the main road, though the RMC had permitted only 64 e-rickshaws to do so.
