51 more added to Pink Auto fleet in Odisha capital

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, May 4:

After encouraging response from the denizens of the Odisha Capital, Commissionerate Police today flagged off 51 more women-friendly Pink Auto-rickshaws for the convenience of the fairer sex in the city.

The flag off ceremony held in front of Traffic police station near AG square here was attended by city BMC Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, Subash Singh, President of State Auto Mahasangha, Twin City Commissioner of police Dr R P Sharma, Additional Commissioner of Police P S Ranpise, DCP Bhubaneswar Satyabrata Bhoi and other senior police officials.

Speaking at the function, the city Mayor thanked the police team, auto association members, auto drivers and all other stakeholders for their support in successful implementation of the project and efforts to make Bhubaneswar a safer city for women.

Commissioner of Police Dr RP Sharma said the additional Pink auto-rickshaws were included to meet the demand of women passengers.

“At the launch of the Pink Auto project on June 27 last year, 215 auto-rickshaws had been pressed into service on the city roads to offer safe and hassle-free transport to women. After seeing the demand for more Pink autos, 100 more were added to the fleet on August 31 in the second phase,” said Dr Sharma.

“Now with the inclusion of 51 more autos today, the total number of such auto-rickshaws in the city now is 366. We hope it would cater to the demand for the service,” said the Commissioner.

These autos will provide their services at ten locations in the city: Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Khandagiri Square, Baramunda bus depot, Raj Mahal Square, KIIT Square, Kalpana Square, Jaydev Vihar, Acharya Vihar and Bhawani Mall.

The commissionerate police chief also informed that the particulars of the auto drivers in the city will be made available to the Police Control room, Traffic police stations and State Auto Mahasanghas for their easy identification if any commuter faces trouble during journey.