Rogue drivers run riot, 80% autorickshaws keep off road

Commuters in the Western suburb found themselves all dressed up for work but nowhere to go on Tuesday morning as a small group of rogue autorickshaw drivers, irked over the Regional Transport Office’s drive against faulty meters, violently coerced several auto drivers not to ply. Nearly 80% of autorickshaws were off the road as many feared that rogue drivers would target their vehicles.

Prominent station areas in the Western suburbs like Bandra, Andheri, Borivli, Malad, Kandivli and Khar saw a thin presence of autorickshaws. Regular auto rickshaws were a rare sight. Most commuters were thus forced to make use of the black-and-yellow taxis and BEST buses. Longer queues were seen for buses near railway stations.

Pooja Golatkar, a Vasai resident who works in Bandra, used a taxi to reach the Bandra station. “A taxi was relatively easier to find for my journey towards the station. Autorickshaws were not to be seen at all,” Golatkar said. Imran Ansari, a resident of Mira Road, said: “Not a single auto could be seen outside the Andheri station. I took a BEST bus,” Ansari said.

Two auto drivers were arrested for beating a fellow driver for plying his vehicle. The incident took place at around 9 am on the Andheri-Kurla Road.  Ajay Dube, 30, registered a case in the Khar Police station against his attackers, Shahabuddin Ansari and Shankar Khandare.

“About 80% autos may have been off roads in the Western suburbs. The unions have promised us that they would ask the drivers to resume work from Wednesday,” said a senior RTO official.