Just over 300 taxi stand signs left in city

[1]

Out of 1,519 taxi stand signs in the city, 1,200 have been found missing over the last few years. This has inconvenienced both taxi drivers and passengers ,who say nothing is being done to stop the thefts. Recently, the Taximen’s Union once again wrote a reminder letter to the state government requesting that the stands be fixed.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had held a meeting on June 25, 2011 with senior officials from the transport and traffic department and directed MMRDA and transport officials to come up with a proper plan to restore these stands. As per the recorded minutes of the meeting (The Asian Age is in possession of the document), the CM had directed the officials to ensure that the absence of these stands does not inconvenience passengers.
A.L. Quadros, general secretary of Mumbai Taximen’s Union, who was part of the meeting in 2011 says that despite repeated reminders, no action has been taken. “It is a matter of great concern that even after the CM’s intervention this issue remains unresolved. The police, however, says that it is short of funds and hence helpless,” he said, adding that due to the lack of stands, taxi drivers were losing nearly 60 per cent of their earnings as fines to the traffic police.
A senior official from traffic police department admitted that many stands have been encroached upon by buildings and shopping malls. In many cases, beggars and drug-addicts have also stolen the stands and sold them off.
Transport commissioner of Mumbai V.N. More said, “I know this issue is directly connected with the convenience of commuters. We have asked traffic police and RTO officers to clear pending proposals and are coordinating with the traffic police.”