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Fliers rue lack of shuttle service to airport

Auto, taxi drivers fleece passengers as there are no options.

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Touch down Mumbai airport and another ordeal awaits you.

You will be at the mercy of autorickshaws and taxis who will charge you according to their whims and fancies.

If cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad can boast of an air-conditioned bus service from the airport to the city and Delhi can have an Airport Express Metro, why is Mumbai -- the country's financial capital -- left out?

"I came to the airport and found that the taxi drivers in queue refused to ply short distances. They said they were waiting in queue for more than 12 hours and will not ply short distances," said Ajay Deshpande, who frequently shuttles between Mumbai and Chennai.

"The cost of reaching the city's airport is high as the parking charge is Rs300. If one gets his own vehicle, he has to pay for parking and also walk to the terminal," he added.

The complaint is similar at the city's rail terminuses.

Auto and taximen at these stations charge anything they like and complaints to the authorities have not yielded any result.

"I was told that I will have to pay Rs800 from Kurla terminus to Borivli. I did complain to the policeman on duty, who simply ignored me," said Jayesh Kumar Sahwal, a resident of Borivli.

"There have been stray efforts by BEST buses to run services from these places. But due to pressure from auto and taxi unions and politicians, it was discontinued for want of proper response," said RM Pai, a consumer activist from Dadar.

At the end of the day, it is the common man who suffers.

"Citizens are at the mercy of auto and taxi drivers and a newcomer to the city does not even know proper directions due to which the passenger is fleeced," Deshpande added.

“Such services and facilities should not only be provided for air passengers, but also for train passengers at Borivli, Dadar, Kurla, CST, Mumbai Central, because the situation is quite similar,’’ said Jagdeep Desai, an architect and member of the Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai/suburbs.

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