Auto-rickshaws to be phased out from national capital: Sheila Dikshit

New Delhi, Mar 18: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said that her government wanted to phase out auto-rickshaws from the national capital.

Interacting with the media on Wednesday, Dikshit said that the government hoped that auto-rickshaws will phase out automatically when battery-operated vehicles become operational.

"Look, experimentation is taking place and various auto-makers are doing it like CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) which had become stable. We hope that in due course, in a very short time, when these (battery-operated vehicles become operational) autos will phase out automatically," Dikshit said.

However, daily commuters are unhappy with the proposal.

"All I would like to say is that the auto-rickshaw is a great facility for us. Many times the buses can't make it to the destinations in time, and buses don't even ply on certain routes. In those circumstances autos are of great help and they should not be banned," said Sujata, a daily commuter.

Auto-rickshaws have come to be the lifeline of the capital as most of the daily commuters depend on them for transport.