Delhi Commuters Face Tough Time on Day Two of Strike

New Delhi: Commuters in Delhi faced a tough time as autos and taxis remained off the roads and metro trains and buses were packed to capacity with the two-day Bharat bandh called by 11 major trade unions entering its last day.

Anu Tandon, a sales executive from east Delhi, complained that she had to walk around two km from her house to the nearest Delhi Metro station as there were no autos on roads. "I had to walk about two km to the Metro station, as I couldn't find an auto," she said.

However, the strike proved to be a bonanza for cycle rickshaw-pullers as some of them charged double the usual fare.

With autorickshaws and taxis remaining off roads, a huge rush was witnessed at the Delhi Metro stations and in buses run by the Delhi Transport Corporation across the city.

"We will continue to be on strike today (Thursday). About 70,000 autorickshaws and 20,000 taxis will keep off the roads. However, some autos will be allowed to ply to help commuters reach hospitals in case of medical emergencies," Rajendra Soni of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh told IANS.

Soni, who represents a section of autorickshaw drivers, said last year alone the CNG prices were raised nine times but the government did not revise the auto fares.

The trade unions have called the two-day strike after their talks with the government failed.

The unions have demanded concrete measures for containing inflation, steps for employment generation, universal social security, and fixing the minimum wage at 10,000 per month along with daily allowance.