Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 05 November 2025
The CPI (M) South Andaman Rural Area Committee has urged the Administration to permit autorickshaws carrying two to three passengers to operate over the Chatham Bridge to ease the inconvenience faced by hundreds of daily commuters.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Mr. D. Laxman Rao, Secretary of the South Andaman Rural Area Committee, highlighted the difficulties being faced by the public since the closure of vehicular traffic on the Chatham Bridge about three months ago due to its deteriorated condition. Currently, only two-wheelers are allowed to ply on the bridge, forcing other commuters to walk the entire stretch from Chatham Jetty to the end of the bridge.
Mr. Rao stated that a large number of government employees, workers, students, and patients traveling to Sri Vijaya Puram are compelled to walk from Chatham Jetty up to the Police Station Junction, Chatham, causing considerable hardship, especially for those with health issues.
Although the Administration had introduced a battery-operated seven-passenger shuttle service between Chatham Jetty and Chatham Police Station Junction, CPI(M) pointed out that only one such vehicle is operating, which is inadequate to cater to the large number of commuters using the route daily.
The CPI(M) Committee argued that the combined weight of a seven-seater battery vehicle and its passengers would be nearly equivalent to that of an autorickshaw carrying two to three passengers and a driver. Hence, if battery-operated vehicles are allowed to ply, autorickshaws should also be permitted under similar restrictions to provide relief to the public.
