Fewer rickshaws will ply today

Finding plying autorickshaws in the western suburbs on Monday will probably be a tough task, as thousands of drivers will march to the state transport commissioner’s office in Bandra.

The rally will culminate in a mass fast of the drivers from 11am to 5pm to press the union’s demands, a prominent one being introduction of share auto services for short distances to tide over the problem of tampered meters. Shashank Rao of the Mumbai Autorickshawmen’s union said he expects a “minimum of 5,000” drivers to turn up for the march, and there could be a “slight impact” on the numbers of plying autorickshaws.