Bengaluru: Cops intervene, auto drivers restrict stir to Freedom Park

Police foiled auto-rickshaw drivers’ plan to hold a march in the Central Business District (CBD) on Thursday, restricting their protest against bike taxis to Freedom Park.

Bangalore Auto Drivers Unions’ Federation, which represents 21 unions, had asked auto-rickshaw drivers to march with their vehicles from Sangolli Rayanna Circle to Freedom Park, a distance of 1.5 km, and thence to Vidhana Soudha, another kilometre away.

The march to the seat of power was aimed at pressuring the state government to withdraw permission for electric bike taxis and stop the use of personal vehicles (with whiteboard number plates) as bike taxis.

However, as auto drivers tried to converge on Sangolli Rayanna Circle, police dispersed them. Police also blocked parts of Seshadri Road — where Freedom Park is situated — with buses. They also made sure that auto drivers didn’t converge in large numbers on Mysore Bank Circle and other key traffic intersections.

Auto drivers, however, were allowed to drive to Freedom Park in their vehicles. Those who tried to defy the restrictions were bundled into buses and taken into preventive custody.

It is estimated that 300 auto drivers who tried to march to Vidhana Soudha were rounded up. They were all released later.

D Rudramurthy of the Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union said that though they couldn’t take out the march, the protest at Freedom Park was successful. According to him, about 1,500 drivers took part in the protest.

Congress MLA from BTM Layout R Ramalinga Reddy visited the protest venue. The former transport minister promised to consider the auto drivers’ demands for a ban on bike taxis if his party was voted to power.

L Hemantha Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Transport and Secretary of Karnataka State Transport Authority, visited Freedom Park and accepted a memorandum from auto drivers.

The memorandum urged the government to revoke the Electric Bike Taxi Scheme, 2021, and ban whiteboard bike taxis. It also asked the government to give drivers a 50% subsidy for electric auto-rickshaws.

The federation has warned of an indefinite strike and legal action if the government fails to respond to the demands.