Desperate city, strike still on

[1]

Some 3.5 million Bengalureans were put to enormous hardship on Thursday as over 90 per cent of the buses remained off the roads, leaving hapless office-goers, schoolchildren and other commuters, and many left at the mercy of rapacious auto drivers and taxis. Till late last night, union leaders refused to call off the strike. With talks between striking KSRTC and BMTC union leaders and the government deadlocked late on Thursday night, Bengalureans could be faced with another harrowing day on Friday as despite directives from the minister of education, schools and colleges insisted on staying open.

The government, threatening to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to force BMTC and KSRTC drivers back to work, will make available another 2000 private buses and 26,000 maxi cabs and has asked neighbouring states to run more inter-state buses.

Auto drivers triple fares
With no buses to turn to, commuters had no choice but to bank on autos in the city on Thursday. In the process many were taken for a ride as even for distances that would have cost them Rs 20, they ended up paying Rs 150.

Marlin Dsouza, a HR consultant with a private company who had to go to Tin factory from the Isolation hospital, found that no auto driver was willing to go his way for less than Rs 150, although the fare was a mere Rs 30 by meter. A housewife, Sunita Kumar, paid Rs 250 to take her son to school on Thursday by auto, although the fare is only Rs 45 by meter. “No auto driver would come for anything less,” she added helplessly. Some auto drivers justified fleecing commuters saying, "Anyway we only charge Rs 30 or 40 more than the normal fare”.

ACP, (traffic), M.A. Saleem, said: "Pre-paid auto stands operate only from the afternoon, but today they started in the morning. We had warned auto unions against fleecing passengers".