Faced with traffic congestion, the Andhra Pradesh police has been conducting a special drive to stop unauthorised autorickshaws from plying in Vijayawada.
According to authorities, nearly 26,000 unauthorised auto-rickshaws have been identified as the main cause of the traffic.
Reports state that the Traffic Deputy Commissioner of Police conducted a meeting on the issue last week with Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Road Transport Corporation(RTC), Vigilance and Roads and Buildings (R&B).
The Traffic Department also held a meeting with auto unions in the city, for their cooperation in controlling unauthorised vehicles.
It was reported that, non-permitted vehicles were mostly arriving from places like Ibrahimpatnam, Vuyyuru, Tadepalli, Kankipadu and Gannavaram.
There are also a few Motor Vehicle Inspectors, who stop as many as 12 to 15 unauthorised vehicles from entering Vijayawada everyday.
Deputy Transport Commissioner E Meera Prasad told The New Indian Express that 12 'Transport inspectors' were positioned to look into the matter every Wednesday.
So far, the city traffic police has registered around 931 cases and imposed fines on several vehicles. Besides this, nearly 60 auto rickshaws were seized for overloading and not having proper documentation.
Last year, there were between 250 and 400 seven-seater autorickshaws in the city, while only 52 such autos were permitted in the city limits.
These autos carry more than 12 passengers in a single trip are not only unauthorised, but also put public safety at risk.
"Even the seven-seaters are supposed to carry only seven passengers, including the driver," M Purendra, regional transport officer of Vijayawada told the Times of India.