JOIN USPassengers who arrived in the City by buses and trains on Monday had a harrowing time in reaching their destinations with autos going off roads due to their 24-hour strike.
Taxi drivers made a killing in the absence of alternative arrangement. Passengers had to wait for long hours to get a taxi at the City railway station. Long queues were seen at the taxi stands of City railway station and Kempegowda bus terminus. Police had a tough time in controlling the crowd and helping passengers.
Jagadish Chandar, a senior citizen from New Delhi, who is a first-time visitor to Bangalore said: “My train arrived at 11 am. I have to go to Jakkur. Since there are no autorickshaws I booked a prepaid taxi and they told me that all taxis are booked and I will get one only after 12.30 pm. I might even have to share the taxi and wait for another passenger on the same route.” Some passengers were forced to share taxis with strangers.
Neetu Saxena, who arrived from Uttar Pradesh with her eight-month-old son and 10-year-old daughter, had a tough time in getting a taxi.
“We waited for nearly an hour to get a prepaid taxi. Even though most passengers with families and luggage prefer taxis, they were more in demand today in the absence of autos. My husband and I struggled to get a taxi,” she said.
Piyush Vijay had been on a holiday to Nagpur and had to rejoin work on Monday. He was forced to take leave for the day in the absence of a conveyance - taxis or autos.
“We are waiting for nearly an hour to get a taxi to Hennur. After a long holiday, I had to report for work today, but could not,” he said.
Metro, bus ride
Regular auto commuters were forced to seek other modes of transport such as BMTC buses and Metro. Some pooled cabs to reach their destination.
IT professionals Raghu, Suchit and Rupali (residents of Cambridge Layout, Indiranagar and Jeevan Bima Nagar having their offices on Sarjapur Road) decided to hire a cab together.
“We had anticipated that this situation will arise. So even though we had slightly different timings to reach office, we took one cab to save on money,” the trio said.
Sunitha on her way to office on MG Road, took a BMTC bus to reach her workplace. “I took a bus after one whole year as I used to come to work by auto. But today, I had no option and changed two buses to reach my office,” she said.
Some living close to the Metro stations utilised the services of Namma Metro for small distances.
A resident of Ulsoor, Asif, said, “I have to come to Indiranagar every day to attend coaching classes. Since the distance is not much, I usually take an auto. But, today I took Metro from Ulsoor to Indiranagar.”
Some autos which were plying on the roads demanded huge fares from the commuters.