Many Delhi buses, autos registered under fake addresses: Panel

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel, probing road safety issues in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape case, has expressed serious concern over cases of a large number of buses and autorickshaws in Delhi being registered under fake addresses.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, felt that criminals got away easily taking advantage of the duality and multiplicity of the policing and security system in the national capital.

It is understood that Yechury has suggested the creation of an autonomous authority, comprising officials of the state transport departments, traffic police, road maintenance organisations and others concerned in every state, to ensure greater degree of coordination among these agencies.

The committee, which recently summoned top officials like Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, Delhi Transport Commissioner and the Road Transport and Highways Ministry Secretary, is set to submit its recommendations to Parliament next month.

"This particular bus (used in the gangrape) was caught six times and let off every time it was challaned. After this gruesome incident, it was found that the address given was wrong. That is why we asked the National Informatics Centre that it should maintain a data base to make it easy to track any such vehicle," a source in the panel said, adding that "unfortunately, no such system exists now."

There were also reports that "over 100 autorickshaws have been found to be registered in the name of an old widow at an obscure address. How can this happen?", sources pointed.

At a recent meeting, the panel found that representatives of traffic police, which implements the law, and Delhi administration were found passing the buck on each other on this issue, they said.