Vikram and auto rickshaw unions of Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Vikasnagar and Laksar will gherao Vidhan Sabha on November 29 to stage their protest against the transport department’s decision of banning petrol and diesel operated Vikram and auto rickshaws from next year. After the regional transport office (RTO) of Dehradun declared the ban on the operation of auto rickshaws and Vikrams older than a decade after March 31 and on the remaining after December 31, 2023, several unions came together to form an alliance under Uttarakhand Vikram, Auto Rickshaw Parivahan Mahasangh to fight the department against the decision. A Press conference was held in Dehradun on Wednesday by the president of the newly formed federation, Vinay Saraswat. He said that the RTO has stated that auto rickshaws and Vikrams operators would be able to continue the operation with clean fuel vehicles like BS VI vehicles, CNG fuelled or electric hybrid vehicles after the ban of their respective vehicles but they actually lack proper planning and execution. He said that the livelihood of thousands of people depends on these auto rickshaws and Vikrams and the sudden ban within a few months would affect many. The union members said that they want the authorities to give them the time till 2025 to eliminate Vikrams and auto rickshaws in a phased manner and till then, the department can strengthen the structure to run clean fuel vehicles which are almost non-existent at present.  They said that operation of Vikram and auto rickshaw generates a considerable amount of revenue for the State government and they should consider how the ban would affect it too. They said that they would gherao Vidhan Sabha on November 29 to present this issue together at a bigger level to get the government’s attention towards the issue.