Commuters suffered as 22,000 autorickshaw drivers kept their vehicles off the city, protesting against the state transport department’s plans to issue 40,000 auto permits.
Commuters suffered as 22,000 autorickshaw drivers kept their vehicles off the city on Friday protesting against the state transport department’s plans to issue 40,000 auto permits.
Finally, they were left to the mercy of a few drivers who still plied on the roads ignoring the strike call by the autorickshaw driver’s union (ARDU). In total, there are 85,000 autorickshaws plying in the city.
“I had to plead with a driver to take me to Sanjaynagar. I was unaware of the strike until the driver told me. He begged the other drivers not to harass his customers. No law can change the behaviour of auto drivers,” said Padmavathi Rajan, resident of Kempapura.
Like her, there were many who were unaware of the strike. With no auto in sight, they remained helpless on the road during the peak hours.
ARDU members, who supported the strike, did not ply their vehicles. They stopped auto drivers, who do not belong to their union, from plying their vehicles. This led to verbal exchanges.
“My daughter was not well and I had to reach Rajarajeshwarinagar Hospital in Kanchenahalli. There was no auto on the stretch for 15 minutes. My daughter’s condition did not allow me to take her in a bus,” said an exasperated Aravinda Devaiah, resident of Duvasapalya.
After a long wait, a few women were sitting on the footpath near CTO Circle desperately waiting for an auto which will take them to their respective destinations.
Even if an auto came, the driver charged an exorbitant amount. In the meantime, ARDU executive members staged a sit-in at Freedom Park from 10:30am to 2pm.
They shouted slogans against the state government’s policies to ruin their business.
Later, they handed over a memorandum to the principal secretary of transport department Shankarlinge Gowda.
Srinivas Murthy, zonal president of ARDU, blamed it on the rise in the number of two-wheelers and BMTC buses which was hitting the poor driver below the belt.
The auto strike ended at 6pm. But that did not help to ease the situation on the roads as hundreds of drivers, who were in support of the strike, had already gone home.
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