'Checking auto meters tough task'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">HYDERABAD: The city police on Wednesday admitted that it had failed in its attempt to check faulty autorickshaw meters in the city. During a Face-to-Face programme with citizens on Wednesday, deputy commissioner traffic K Sreenivas Reddy said it was the job of weights and measures department to check the auto meters and book cases but they too have failed due to the high number of autos in the twin cities.<br /><br />The deputy commissioner was replying to a complaint from Ramakrishna of Kharitabad.The weights and measures department, he said, was short of staff and equipment. Unless they certify that the meter was faulty, the police will not be able to take any legal action, he said.<br /><br />“We know that 90 per cent of the meters are faulty but we cannot do anything,'''' Sreenivas Reddy said.<br /><br />The solution to this problem is to make it mandatory for all the autos to have digital or electronic meters. But again, this was the responsibility of the transport department, the officer said.<br /><br />Replying to another question on displaying driver identification number on autos, Sreenivas Reddy said this too was not a practical proposition due to the high volume of autos.<br /><br />Instead, the officer said, police were examining the possibility of allotting code numbers to drivers which would be painted behind the driver''s seat.<br /><br />In case of theft of luggage or any kind of harassment by auto drivers, the code number would make the identification of the driver easy.<br /><br />He said that in spite of various methods like recording the vehicle number and name of passengers travelling by autos from railway station, the auto drivers were fleecing the passengers midway. The public too does not come forward with complaints against such auto drivers, he said.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Slum dwellers want garbage cleared:</span> The slum areas of Santosh Nagar are in the grip of health problems like fever caused due to pig menace and garbage strewn around. <br /><br />The issue came to light during the weekly Face-to-Face programme organised by the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad on Wednesday. <br /><br />Mayor Teegala Krishna Reddy and MCH commissioner Chitra Ramachandran assured Narsingrao of Santosh Nagar dhobi ghat that the matter would be attended to on priority basis. <br /><br />Another caller, Mohd Afzal of Khairatabad, had both bouquets and brickbats for the municipal commissioner. While admiring her courage and commitment, he said she had overlooked the issue of illegal occupation of road. <br /><br />MCH officials visit the place, challan for Rs 100, collect their mamools and disappear and illegal activities continue, causing traffic snarls near the Khairatabad railway station, he said.</div> </div>