CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Chandigarh administration to file an affidavit informing about the steps taken for the revival of rickshaw stands in all sectors of the city.
Directions came from a special division bench comprising justice Surya Kant and justice Ajay Tewari during the resumed hearing of a case pertaining to the introduction of eco-friendly rickshaws and designating the vehicle-free zones in Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh. The bench told UT senior standing counsel Sanjay Kaushal that use of non-polluting vehicles was the need of the hour, and unless there was pro-active approach from the authorities concerned, there would be no results. The bench also said that earlier there were sanctioned rickshaw stands in the city but at present, hardly any such stand could be seen.
During the hearing, amicus curiae (friend of court) advocate Rita Kohli submitted that founder of eco- cab service Navdeep Asija was ready to introduce at least 10 such ecocabs in the city, if the administration supported him. On this, Kaushal apprised the bench that Asija had already been requested by the administration to park eco-cabs in Sector 17.
Kohli also told the court that there was poor response from the Haryana government on introduction of eco- cabs. However, the Punjab government informed that it was going to convene a meeting on July 10 over the issue. The court also directed Haryana and Punjab to file their replies during the next hearing on July 17.
Page 3, HT Live, 7th July 2012, Hindustan Times, Chandigarh Edition
