SWABI: Increasing number of unregistered auto-rickshaws has been causing traffic jams on the roads across the district with the traffic police failing to devise any mechanism to effectively regulate the flow of three-wheelers.

Though the traffic police have banned the three-wheelers from picking and dropping passengers in the district headquarters, but the measure has failed to ease traffic congestion on the Swabi-Topi, Swabi-Mardan and on Swabi-Jehangira roads and the main thoroughfares in the city.

Those violating the ban are also fined from Rs200 to Rs600, but we have to take in the passengers from the prohibited areas to earn livelihood, said a rickshaw driver, Ali Zar Khan of Maneri Bala. He said that whenever they spotted any traffic police official, they sped away their vehicle to avoid any harsh treatment.

When contacted, district traffic in-charge Niaz Gul Khan told Dawn that so far about 7,500 rickshaws had been registered in the district, but admitted that still there was a large number to be registered as the government had stopped registration of the three-wheelers.

The traffic official said that more and more people were buying the rickshaws owing to their affordable prices. The traffic in-charge said that if a driver of a three-wheeler didn’t have a licence he was fined Rs610, while wrong parking and picking and dropping of people on the banned routes caused Rs210 fine.

Gul Khan said that the issue of registration of rickshaws was discussed with the high ranking officials recently, and added that the registration process would hopefully be started very soon. On the other hand, the rickshaw drivers told Dawn that tehsil municipal administrations regularly took taxes from them, but didn’t assign them any stand for parking and other facilities.

They demanded the facilities being provided to other transporters and an end to what they termed illegal fines imposed on them. “The rickshaw drivers are poor people and they only want to earn their livelihood with dignity and honour,” said Asghar Ali of Topi city.

ROBBERS ARRESTED: The police on Monday claimed to have arrested three robbers and recovered looted items from them. Nural Amin, SHO Zaida police station, told mediapersons that on a tip-off a police party raided the Gar village and arrested three robbers identified as Umer Mohammad and Zohib-ur-Rehman of Kalabat village and Jamail Khan of Bakhshali village of Mardan.

The police official said that the robbers had struck at many places in the Zaida city, adding that the district police officer, Sajjad Khan, had directed the police to trace out the robbers.

He said that the police were trying to arrest the other members of the gang. Mr Amin said that police recovered pistols, snatched motorcycles, Rs8,000 and three mobiles from the robbers.

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014