The union members were, however, found to be divided on the issue late in the evening. With some agreeing to abide by the deadline, the impact of the strike is expected to reduce.

The Panchkula association and the Joint Action Committee, however, said it would not resort to such means. “Until our demands are met, we will peacefully continue with our strike. We will hold a rally at the Circus Ground, Sector 17, Chandigarh,” said Kamala Kant, chairman of the Joint Action Committee.

In the absence of autorickshaws, meanwhile, people had a tough time commuting. Some of them even had to walk down to their destinations.

Status report
What the Admn wants
* A switch from petrol and diesel to LPG for autorickshaws by August 31, 2009
* Autos should get permits from respective state transport authorities
* Chandigarh operators should get these permits countersigned by respective states transport authorities and vice versa

Auto operators seek
* To not phase out autorickshaws running for less than 15 years
* To phase out diesel and petrol-run taxis and CTU buses too
* To reduce late penalty fee, registration fee and other charges
* To allow joint permit for Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh

Steps taken by UT

* Increased frequency of CTU buses in the grid system - 22 buses added to the fleet. Frequency decreased from 25 to 20 minutes

* Agreement with Punjab to allow 500 LPG-run auto-rickshaws into Chandigarh and vice versa. Agreement with Haryana in the

... contd.