Mumbai:
Mumbai commuters found themselves all dressed up for work with nowhere to go on Tuesday morning. Their nightmare was duplicated during the evening rush hour.
More than 80,000 taxis and close to one lakh autos were not available to the city. Drivers announced a strike at midnight on Monday, demanding that fares be revised, because they're paying more now for CNG.
In the afternoon, taxi and auto union leaders met with Transport Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, and were told their demands would be considered over the next week.
The strike was then declared over by Nitesh Rane, who heads an organization called Swaabhimaan which represents public transport drivers. Rane's father, Narayan, is a minister in the Maharashtra government.
Promising that autos and taxis would be available to commuters for the evening rush hour, Rane said, "Auto and taxi drivers are the lifeline of Mumbai...the intention was not to bring Mumbai to a halt but to make the Mumbaikars aware of the woes of an integral community."
However, even at 7 pm, auto and taxi drivers had not returned to work. Harassed commuters headed to bus stops for the long route home.
Auto unions want the base price (fare for the first kilometer) to be increased from Rs 9 to Rs 11. Every additional kilometer should cost commuters Rs 6.50, they say. The Maharashtra government will consider the demands of auto and taxi drivers within a week.
Taxi drivers want the minimum fare for black and yellow taxis to go from Rs 14 to Rs 16.