As Mumbai braces itself up for the Meter Jam on August 12, Bangalore too plans to tag along and shun autowallahs, whose often tyrannical attitude irks the commuters. The online space is abuzz with activities in support of the campaign. The movement is gaining ground on micro-blogging website Twitter while Facebook is not to be left behind. As of Monday evening, 11, 362 users ‘liked’ the campaign’s page on Facebook.
In a city where the Metro is yet to come up and bus connectivity still remains an issue, many commutersstrive to make the Meter Jam campaign a successful one.
“I’m avoiding autorickshaws on August 12,” said Saina Jayapal, who travels by autorickshaws everyday to avoid the hassles of changing buses.
“This is the time to do my bit and hit back at them for all the nasty times I have had to put up with their unreasonable demands,” said Jayapal.
Maya Saikia, a copywriter, who prefers bus to autorickshaw felt that the three-wheeler cannot be banned in Bangalore. “For short distance rides, autorickshaws are the only solution,” said Saikia, who felt that short route bus connectivity is non-existent in the city.
While many vent their resentment, some also sympathise with the autowallahs.
“Not all of them are bad. Such generalisation only shows that people do not care about these people, who struggle to manage their families,” said Vivek Sahu.
Other commuters came up with a solution to the problem.
“Why not start using buses. It will help make the environment cleaner. The government will be forced to better the bus transportation system,” said Kumari Ghosh.
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