RADIO TAXI IN MATHURA VRINDAVAN

Mathura

 

The district authorities are seriously exploring the feasibility of launching radio taxi service in the twin towns in November. Transport department officials have had several round of talks

 

Transport department officials said the chief minister of UP Akhilesh Yadav is keen to get his dream project started before the year ends in Agra and Mathura, both visited by lakhs of tourists round the year.

 

Presently the tourists are fleeced by private operators in connivance with local guides and touts who are accused of taking pilgrims in Vrindavan and Mathura to less popular temples and show rooms.

 

UP's minister for transport Durga Prasad Yadav said in Lucknow two days ago that both Mathura and Agra draw a significantly large number of tourists who need more efficient and affordable transport to visit local sites. He said the radio taxi system was not only cheaper but safer too. For the women, elderly and children, radio taxis were a blessing, as the vehicles were constantly under observation and were tracked through GPS.

Minister of state for transport Man Pal Singh also said this was a dream project of the chief minister and therefore the transport department should give it top priority.

 

The autos and private vehicles presently available have no fixed rates. "Also the private operators have been known to have abetted crime," said a travel agent Amit Sisodia.  He wondered if the radio taxi system can work in other cities why can it not in the Braj circuit which has so many attractions which tourists are not able to see for want of local taxis," Sisodia said.

 

DD Tiwari, who runs a travel agency suggested, "for Mathura, Vrindavan and Agra Nano would be an ideal vehicle, as its size would allow it to manouvre narrow lanes and also prove economical on fuel usage. So many cities have tried Nanos for local transport, like Mysore. In fact Nanos are a better alternative to auto rikshaws."

 

In Goa, they have mobike taxis also. "Everywhere you see mobikes hauling singles, women too and they are absolutely safe," points out Sudheir Gupta, an insurance agent who recently visited Goa.

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