Government control over the vehicles available on hire in Bhopal, always casual, is now progressively becoming non-existent. Take for instance the auto rickshaws. They have metres installed but these are never used. The rickshaw-drivers always fend off sticky commuters by saying that the metres were non-functional. There is, therefore, rampant overcharging on the one hand and, on the other, occasional altercations when a commuter refuses to be taken literally for a ride. Mostly it is the commuter who is the loser.
Same is the case with the taxis that ply from the Airport. In the absence of any pre-fixed fares the taxi-drivers feel free to quote fancy fares which in anywhere else would be treated as plain and simple extortion. Again there is no let or hindrance; and the extortion continues unabated.
Likewise, the newly-introduced Tata Magic vehicles that, after replacing the ugly, polluting Tempos, rush around in great speed unconscionably overloaded, commuters packed so tightly - like cattle or sardines, whichever you please - that a head, a hand or a leg always sticks out of the vehicle. Though a traffic hazard, yet cops blithely let them pass with supreme benevolence.
Governance is what we are terribly short of in this town. Though both the states are ruled by the same political party, yet Gujarat is so different from MP. The auto or taxi drivers always charge by their (un)tampered metres in the big metropolis of Ahmedabad. Mercifully, there are no Magics there. Here control has been so lax and for so long that everybody has fallen into the bad habit of nurturing indifference for the law. The government that is supposed to govern has allowed the initiative to slip out of its hands, throwing the hapless aam aadmi to the wolves.
One is quite aware of how and why the powers-that-be are reluctant to be harsh with these service providers. But, occasionally they should also think of the people whose taxes pay for their bread and butter.
Proloy Bagchi, Bhopal
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