More than 27 lakh vehicles run on Mumbai roads and citizens find it difficult to find a space to park their vehicles
Black and yellow taxi drivers in Mumbai are facing a tough time as parking spaces are vanishing in the city. So, taxi unions have decided that they will approach Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with a blank cheque, asking him to fill in the desired amount to remove encroachments from parking stands designated for them.
More than 27 lakh vehicles run on Mumbai roads and citizens find it difficult to find a space to park their vehicles. Many a times, they park their cars at the taxi stands. Over time, taxi unions have become desperate to revive stands that have either gone missing or have been encroached upon by private parking. The union claims that their taxi stands – which normally has a blue pole with a metal board showing a black taxi and number – have gone missing.
"We will give a blank cheque to the Chief Minister's office this week. The RTOs and traffic police authorities failed to clear them and the stands have disappeared," said AL Quadros, leader, Mumbai Taximen's Union.
The union's idea is that the authorities are not doing much on grounds that they do not have enough funds. The police said that they we following directives issued to them.
"The taxi unions have been demanding additional taxi stands. We will follow the directions of the RTO and Transport department," said Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
The taxi drivers say that other than private cars, there are also areas where illegal food stalls have taken over the cab stands. There are almost 1,400 taxi stands across Mumbai, of which 800 stands have vanished, they claim.
The unions have also demanded for double parking, especially near commercial hubs and office districts during peak hours as their designated spaces have vanished.
"We will have to check if the taxi union has given such a proposal ," said S Pedamkar, RTO (Tardeo).
Quadros said that over months, authorities have been making false promises as far as reviving taxi stands is concerned. At present, there are 55,000 black and yellow taxis officially registered at RTOs of Tardeo, Wadala and Andheri. However, of these around 48,000 ply everyday, while others are shut for some reason or other.
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