PUNE, Feb 2: Three-seater autorickshaw drivers commenced plying on Sunday night calling off their 13-day old strike, much to the relief of Puneites. Autorickshaw drivers in the adjoining Pimpri-Chinchwad area had started plying on Saturday itself.Over 65,000 autorickshaw drivers from Pune and the industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad had launched an indefinite strike since January 19 to press their demand of implementing a ban on six-seater autorickshaws.
The stir had taken a violent turn when Rickshaw Panchayat President Baba Adhav and his 2,000 followers had been arrested after they violated the ban on the assembly of five or more persons imposed by the Pune Police Commissioner K K Kashyap on January 22. The announcement that the strike would be called off was made on January 30 after Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde's assurance that the issue of banning the six-seaters in city limits would be given top priority after the Lok Sabha elections.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
