Field day for auto drivers

Passengers who arrived in the City from various places were in for a shock on Thursday.

With all the City-bus services suspended, the passengers, young and old, were stranded on the railway platforms and KSRTC bus stands.

While auto rickshaw drivers made the most of it, charging the hapless customers exorbitantly, the travelling public had little choice but to bear their whims and fancies.

Additional Commissioner for Traffic M A Saleem told Deccan Herald that he had received many complaints since morning. 

“We have booked many cases against auto drivers charging heavily,” he added.

When Manu Sharma arrived in the City from New Delhi, his heart skipped a beat when an auto driver demanded Rs 2,000 to reach HSR Layout from Majestic area. 

Smrithi Singh, who works in a private firm, said: “Auto drivers are charging 75 per cent extra. From Sanjaynagar to MG Road I had to pay Rs 150, while the actual fare is Rs 90.”

Petrol bunks closed

Motorists had a harrowing time as many a petrol bunk remained closed. According to the President of Karnataka Federation of Petrol Dealer’s Association Bhushan Narang, “We are not in support of the bandh. However, some local goons threatened employees of a few petrol bunks forcing them to suspend business.”

The citizen service centres across the City were also hit, with BBMP reporting nearly 60 per cent absenteeism. 

Palike officials said data operators in most of the citizen service centres stayed away from the offices, hampering the issuing of life and death certificates, khatas and other allied services.