My locality Sreebhumi is the home to the various festival celebrations. But it is also the place where roads look nasty with excessive number of cars, motorbikes, cycles, rickshaws and toto e-rickshaws. Toto e-rickshaws are seen in excessive numbers at Sreebhumi. You can say, the toto e-rickshaws are next generation rickshaws. They run faster, run on batteries and the rickshaw puller does not have to do a lot of hardwork to run it. Apparently neither toto or ordinary rickshaw pose a threat to common people's life. But you know what? Too much of anything is bad.
Two months before, when I went for a travel to Shantiniketan, he I was literally surprised by seeing the number of toto rickshaws in the station area and the elsewhere. Shantinekan was flooded with this vehicle and so is my locality Sreebhumi.
What are the problems faced by common people because of toto rickshaws?
1) Number of toto rickshaws: Toto rickshaws and rickshaws should be limited to every locality. Else, they will occupy too much of the road space which is happening right now at Sreebhumi. There is no controller to reduce the number of toto rickshaws & rickshaw pullers in my locality.
2) Noise pollution: Toto rickshaws have a very off kind of sound system. They play those irritating sounds most of the time while running the toto rickshaws. Sreebhumi is already a noisy place. Sound of toto rickshaws are simply unbearable. There is a guideline on sound about toto rickshaws, no toto rickshaw puller seems to care about it. Their happiness is in breaking the law and making the common people suffer because of noise pollution.
3) Speed: Toto rickshaws go at a fast speed and these can't slow down quickly. As a result, accidents can happen at any time.
4) Space on road: As there are toto or normal rickshaw stand at almost every 50/100 meters, they always stand on the roads, so cars can't pass on smoothly. Pedestrians like me can't walk properly. Traffic jams happen as an everyday incident and also the possibility of accidents increase more.
5) Anti-social culture: Most toto riders come from the background of low income class and they live in the slum areas. When they stand in a group, they talk like a bunch of criminals. Hence, the pedestrians mentally feel unsafe who pass beside them.
What is the role of politicians & local cops?
The problem is that today's corruptive local politicians of Kolkata & West Bengal don't care at all about the increasing number of rickshaws & toto rickshaws. Perhaps their party gets some commissions from the earnings of these toto riders. So, they don't bother about the problem.
On the other hand, West Bengal and Kolkata's 'honest' traffic cops don't see this as a problem. They only do their duties everyday and go home happily.
How to get rid of this increasing toto rickshaw problem?
Unfortunately there is no solution. Such unwanted vehicles will go on increasing unless someone influential takes action to vacate the roads of Sreebhumi and elsewhere in West Bengal. Then only pedestrians will get some freedom to walk freely on roads without any hazard.
Also, people at Sreebhumi & in rest of Kolkata park their cars without any permission. And dog owners take their dogs for a walk in random paths. These issues also reduce the street space. See the photos below:
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Postscript: Please read my other blog (written in Bengali language): https://biswajitauthor.blogspot.com/
