Delhiites hard hit by strike

Commuters experienced a harrowing time on Wednesday due to the auto and taxi strike while the AAP and the principal opposition were busy in blame games. The industrial areas of National Capital Region (NCR) were in a state of paralysis as a large number of workers participated in the nationwide strike called by various trade unions to oppose the proposed reforms in labour laws by the Central government.

The supporters of the strike forcefully prevented auto and taxi drivers from plying their trade, as well as manhandled the drivers. They even damaged their vehicles at several parts of the city. “I hired an auto from Ashok <g data-gr-id="25">Vihar</g> but strike supporters soon stopped it, threatened the driver and tore down his curtains. They even threatened him with dire consequences on the return journey,” said Neha Singh, an office executive at ITO. 

According to the Delhi Traffic officials, more than 70 per cent of total auto-rickshaw fleet stayed off the roads on Wednesday morning. However, the city’s auto union has justified the strike calling themselves ‘victims of the system’. Public transport such as DTC buses and metros were over-crowded, as commuters heading to workplaces in central Delhi or the NCR were forced to board mass transports. While a numbers of commuters found waiting outside at several metro stations in South Delhi revealed that a handful of auto-rickshaws from the NCR agreed to ferry passengers, but only to colonies in South Delhi.  Some Gramin <g data-gr-id="23">sewa</g> RTVs plying in parts of east Delhi were also found to be overloaded.

Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai blamed it as the conspiracy of BJP, alleging it was their design to tone down nation-wide strike against anti-labour laws. “Initially BJP supported Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh was to participate in the <g data-gr-id="20">strike</g> but they backed off at the last moment,” said Rai.