Row over colour of fuel : Autorickshaw operators say will continue strike, won’t ferry schoolchildren, not allow CTU buses to enter Mohali

Even as commuters continued to bear the brunt of the ongoing strike by autorickshaw operators on Tuesday, the situation is likely to worsen now with the unions announcing to not allow any public transport from Chandigarh to enter Mohali from Wednesday.

With schools and offices opening on Wednesday after holidays, there is likely to be a bigger impact of the strike. To make matters worse, the unions have also decided to not ferry schoolchildren from Wednesday.

The transport officials of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab, meanwhile, met and decided to extend the deadline by three months — till August 31, 2009.

“In view of the assurance from Punjab officials that no non-LPG vehicle will be allowed to enter Chandigarh after August 2009, the ongoing programme of impounding and issuing challans to autorickshaws from Punjab and Haryana has been deferred till further orders,” said Transport Secretary Ram Niwas.

The autorickshaw unions, however, refused to accept the proposal and declared to continue with their five-day-old strike for an indefinite period.

The protestors held rallies across the tricity, shouting slogans against the Administration.

In Mohali, after keeping their autorickshaws off roads for the fifth consecutive day, the operators held a rally at the Dussehra Ground in Phase VIII and resolved to continue with their protest till the ban was lifted for ever. Mohali Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union president Joginder Pal Singh said: “We may also resort to traffic blockades and other means of protest to press for our demand.”

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