Cars rev up for Dhanteras sale

RANCHI: With Dhanteras hardly a fortnight away, automobile showrooms are once again
being flooded with bookings for two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
The state capital is already facing a problem of parking space, narrow roads, lack of flyovers, subways and traffic snarls leading to the Jharkhand high court issuing a number of directions to the district administration and state government to develop necessary infrastructure.
With the addition of more vehicles this year, city roads are likely to become more nightmarish. One can
hardly remember when moving along M G Road was a smooth affair. The road now leads to several swanky shopping malls and marketing complexes on both sides.
Dhanteras is celebrated with much fanfare across the state and of late it has become a festival of splurge, with shoppers willing to spend on anything, from jewellery to utensils, cars and furniture.
According to data available with the Ranchi district transport office, with the creation of the state in 2000, there were only 1.25 registered vehicles but in March 2010, the figure went up to around 4.5 lakh registered vehicles in the entire Ranchi district.
DTO officials also claimed that around one lakh vehicles, registered outside the Ranchi district, are moving into the state capital and their record or exact detail is not available with the office.
Rakesh Kumar, a private bank employee, who looks after the finance section of two-wheelers, said that though banks have raised their interest rates, the demand for financing two-wheelers has gone up.
Deepesh Kumar, an area sales manager of a two-wheeler company, said this year they have witnessed a near 20 per cent rise in booking. "Most of the customers, especially youths, are looking for heavy-duty bikes while the working class is looking for high-mileage bikes," said Kumar.
Suresh Gupta, a private automobile dealer, said they had sold over 2,000 vehicles, including two-wheelers, in the last festive season between Durga Puja and Chhath festival. He said this year looked like they would be making record sales.
Voicing concern, Sujit Mukherjee, a retired Bihar government employee and a septuagenarian recalling the old times, said, "Wherever one looks there are only concrete blocks. Trees have been axed in the name of development and pollution and traffic have gone up to an alarming level. The government should seriously think of increasing the infrastructure to accommodate more vehicles and keep a tab on the mindless sale of two-wheelers and four-wheelers," said Mukherjee.