Autorickshaw strike hits Delhiites hard.

Byline: Ajay Jha, Chief Correspondent

New Delhi: Delhiites had harrowing time as the Taxi Scooter Rickshaws (TSR), popularly known as autorickshaws, remained off the road for the second consecutive day yesterday.

Over 50,000 of the 55,000 registered TSRs have been on strike since Monday to force the government concede their demand to go slow on booking them for violating traffic rules.

While local buses and Delhi Metro remained packed like sardines, the worst hit were those coming to Delhi from outside with complete chaos reigning at the railway stations and inter-state bus terminals, as the popular green and yellow three-wheeled auto rickshaws were not visible.

Few TSRs which hit the road were demanding exorbitant fares, up to five times of the original fare to take the passengers to their destinations. The story was more or less the same with taxis who have also been overcharging hapless passengers. The normal yellow and black taxis, which like the TSRs seldom go by the meter, are already facing the heat after radio taxis were given permit.

TSR drivers affiliated to 17 unions went on two-day strike starting on Monday saying the local traffic police and the state transport department have been quite harsh with them.

Their long-list of demands include no penalty for not carrying driving licence or valid permits, fitness test and pollution under control certificates.

"This is absurd, they want to be law unto themselves without being penalised," said Madhukar Gupta, who had to walk two kilometres to reach his Gole Market office from the Rajiv Chow metro station.

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