Tempers reached boiling point on Saturday, the sixth day of the strike, with a morcha at Chembur on a road leading to the Eastern Freeway.
Monday will decide the fate of the week-long strike by Ola and Uber drivers: Either the disgruntled workers will ply their vehicles again; or descend on the city's streets with families in tow.
They are slated to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Transport minister Diwakar Raote, who will facilitate their talks with the transportation network companies. In the even of stalemate, the drivers have threatened to intensify the strike by taking to the streets with members of their families.
Tempers reached boiling point on Saturday, the sixth day of the strike, with a morcha at Chembur on a road leading to the Eastern Freeway. The drivers brought traffic to a halt for a while at 1 pm, but timely presence and pacification by the police eased matter soon, and prevented it from spreading to the rest of the city. Unverified videos went viral on social media of those drivers that were still plying their vehicles being manhandled by the dissenting ones.
Unions spearheading the strike say drivers are frustrated by the hit in income and by the unwillingness of the companies to come to the table for talks.
"We've had continuous meetings through Saturday," said a union leader from Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh (MRRKS), "And have decided to intensify the strike. On Monday, we'll meet the state government and mobile aggregator companies. Depending on the outcome, we shall decide the future course of action."
Sources say large scale morchas are being discussed if their demands for fare rise and other conditions are not met. "The firms started business by offering high incentives to drivers and low fares for passengers," says Ashok Datar, a transport expert. "Now they are finding it difficult to handle the situation. The strike is a sign to both the state government and these aggregator companies on the need to handle this crises."
Meanwhile, barely 5 per cent of the private cabs plied on Saturday. Wait period came down to 15 minutes, but fares remained high: A 2-kilometre ride from Lower Parel to Dadar cost Rs 250.
In keeping with their stand, both Ola and Uber refused to comment on the matter, saying only that they are in touch with the drivers and have asked them to resume work.
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