Sri Vijaya Puram, Nov. 5: CPI (M) South Andaman Rural Area Committee has demanded to allow the auto rickshaws with two or three passengers to operate over the Chatham Bridge in order to avoid the inconvenience faced by hundreds of people while crossing the bridge.
In a letter sent to the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration, D. Laxman Rao, Secretary, South Andaman Rural Area Committee drew the attention of the Administration to the closure of vehicular traffic over the Chatham bridge 3 months ago due to the allegedly alarming condition of the bridge and said that only two wheelers were allowed to pass through the said bridge. He said that all the passengers were required to walk through the entire bridge from Chatham jetty upto the end of the bridge. He stated in the letter that a large number of government employees, workers, students and patients going to various hospitals at Port Blair are required to walk the entire stretch from Haddo jetty upto Police Station junction, Haddo.
Though the Administration had introduced the battery operated 7-passenger vehicles to make shuttle service from Chatham jetty to the Chatham Police station junction at Haddo, CPI (M) brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary that only one such vehicle is found making services which is insufficient to meet the requirement of large number of people who are required to walk from Chatham jetty upto Police Station junction.
CPI (M) South Andaman Rural Area Committee Secretary said that weight of the seven persons and the battery-operated vehicle will be of same weight as that of the auto rickshaw and three passengers and the auto- rickshaw driver. If the 7-seater battery operated vehicle can be allowed, then the auto rickshaws with two or three passengers can also be permitted to operate over the Chatham Bridge.