Rickshaw strike leaves citizens stranded

As many as 60,000 autorickshaws went off the road in the city posing manifold problems to commuters. Autorickshaw drivers went on a 24-hour strike on Sunday midnight, protesting the proposed hike in the price of compressed natural gas (CNG).

The autorickshaw drivers expressed concern over the cost of running vehicles on CNG to help reduce air pollution. President of Ahmedabad Autorickshaws Drivers Union, Harihar Mishra, said that the proposal to hike CNG price by Rs2 per kg has left autorickshaw drivers ruffled.

Mishra further said, “There is a need to solve the issue of being kept off the purview of Administrative Price Mechanism (APM). Delhi is getting gas at APM, while Ahmedabad is being denied despite the fact the city figured in the Supreme Court list as among the few that need to reduce air pollution.”

While talking about the state government’s proposal to hike gas prices in a bid to bring the city closer to the market price, Mishra said, “Even in that case, we will seek relief for autorickshaw drivers and if the situation gets worse, we will pressurise the government to reduce VAT on CNG by at least a rupee a kg.”

Mishra said that the strike will continue till the government and the private distribution company, Adani Energy Limited, reject the proposal. He also said that a body, comprising all CNG users, will be set up to stand united against any hike in the future. The strike over the fuel price hike will only intensify in the days to come as neither the state government nor Adani Energy Ltd have given any positive response.

“We have sent our representatives to meet government officials, and if they do not agree to our demands we will continue with the strike,” added Mishra added.

Commuters, on the other hand, are facing the wrath for no reason. Sangeeta Pathak, an IT professional, said, “I left for my office on CG road half an hour early as I had to take a bus. Since I knew it would be difficult to find an autorickshaw I decided to take the bus. But because of the strike even the buses were jam packed.”

Another commuter, Ramesh Goyal, who is working in a private firm in Naroda, said, “No autorickshaw driver was ready to take me to my office in Naroda even if I was willing to pay extra bucks.”

Naval Singh, an autorickshaw driver, said, “The price hike will adversely affect our earnings. We are completely against the proposal. On an average, every vehicle will have to bare a loss of Rs1,000 every month if the hike is approved.”

In fact, even the Ahmedabad School Vardi Association has joined hands with the autorickshaw drivers and extended support to the strike. This added to parents’ woes as they will have to drop children to school themselves. “As the new academic term has already begun, increasing the fare of school van or rickshaw will not be accepted by parents. So, we also decided to support the strike,” said president of the association, Dharmendra Bhrambhatt.