AGARTALA, October 2 (TIWN): Passenger fares of three wheeler auto-rickshaws spiked sky high since Maha Sashthi as devotees started streaming out on the streets to hop into Puja pandals across the city. The situation turned acute after the Traffic Police authorities imposed restrictions on movement of vehicles inside the city area since Maha Shaptami.Barred by the lawkeepers to move with their own private vehicles, pandal hoppers had to resort to vehicles-on-hire. The most convenient small vehicle in the city – auto-rickshaw rocketed fares in all segments of the city.Asked for reasons of the sudden hike, an auto-rickshaw driver said that instructions for charging Rs. 10 instead of Rs. 7 in Agartala-Motorstand were given by syndicate leaders.

The Tripura Motor Karmi Samity, a subsidiary of the CPI (M) trade union wing CITU, didn’t give any specifics on the issue anyway. “We haven’t given any such instructions. If the drivers are charging more than usual, anybody can file a complaint with the transport department”, a leader of the organization at Motorstand said.

Transport Minister Manik Dey recently assured that all steps were taken to address complaints of overloading and illegal fares in the department. “We have taken care of all specific complaints lodged with the Department so far. Any further complaint lodged on the issue will be taken care of as well”, he said.