No buses in sight, autorickshaw drivers ride in to fleece cityfolk

The auto rickshaw drivers in the city had a field day fleecing people, with the CTU buses not plying in wake of the strike by the union. The auto rickshaw drivers charged two to three times the normal fare. Commuters found themselves at a loss with no other option being available.

"Most of the students like me have a bus pass to travel regularly, we already cannot afford an auto on regular basis and today it is sad to see that we have no other option but to agree with the over charging by auto drivers," said Sanjoli Jagga, a resident of Sector 15.

Avtar Singh, who could not board a bus from Sector 43 and had to come all the way to the Sector 17 bus stand, said, "With the buses not plying due to the strike, the only other means of traveling left are the autos. But the heavy and inappropriate prices they are charging today has added to the woes."

For going to Sector 17 from the Sector 43 bus stand, the autorickshaw drivers were charging about Rs 30-40 while the fare on other days is Rs 10-15 for the same route. People who had come from other places to Chandigarh were especially helpless. The bus strike caught them unawares.

Vijay Kumar, a resident of Rajasthan, who had come to the city said that the autos were demanding Rs 200 to travel to Mullanpur when the normal fare should have been around Rs 20. He said that he had now called a friend of his to pick him up from the bus stand.

Lines of autorickshaws could be seen outside the bus stands. Harassed commuters could be seen negotiating prices with the drivers who had the upper hand on Friday.

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