BMTC strike: More private vehicles hit the road, cause jams

Just like it happens during every strike of bus drivers, this time too auto drivers had a gala time, fleecing the hapless customers.
Avina M, who had to travel from Domlur to Banashankari had to pay Rs250 instead of the usual Rs100. “I had no option. When buses stop plying, auto drivers have a field day. It is just not fair,” she said.

V Sampath, an auto driver in Jayanagar, said he decided to rip commuters off only after night fall. By 8 pm, he was charging one-and-half times of the meter fare. “I did not ask for extra all morning but it is night time now. There are no buses around. The public don’t have a choice but to take autos right now. So why not?” he asked flippantly.To get to their workplace, many working women who usually travel by bus decided that teaming up meant lesser cost for all.

Bhagirathi Geetha, a teacher with a reputed school in Banshankari, said she was ok with taking the auto once in a while, but is worried about the coming days. “I read in papers that this is an indefinite strike. So, spending hundreds of rupees every day just in auto fare definitely worries me,” she said.

Shankunthala KP, a state government employee who travels from Vigyanagar to Cunningham Road, decided not to go to work as not even on a normal day does an autorickshaw driver agree to take her for the 25-km trip. When her colleagues started calling her to ask if she was at office, she realised that most of them were bunking office.