Gurgaon traffic: Commuters left stranded as auto, taxi drivers blame AAP govt

While the end of the three-day auto and taxi strike in Delhi has come as a big relief for Delhiites, commuters travelling to Gurgaon and vice versa are having a harrowing time due to massive traffic jam on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway on Friday. After heavy rain flooded the national capital on Thursday evening, commuters on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway were stuck in a traffic jam for hours. The situation on Friday morning did not improve either. All kinds of vehicles, from cars to buses and bikes have been left stranded as heavy rain inundated the Hero Honda Chowk in Gurgaon. Though the two incidents are different in connotation — the common factor between the two, is that both have caused immense grief to commuters in the last three days. Both the incidents speak about the worsening administration and deteriorating civic facilities and traffic system in the national capital and in the Millennium City that is Gurgaon. Citizens at receiving end Up-in-arms against the Kejriwal government, Delhi’s auto rickshaws and traditional taxis (yellow-black) resorted to an indefinite strike on 26 July, which finally ended on 28 July evening. It had been a nightmare for the aam aadmi — the common man of Delhi — who moves on public transport, due the auto and taxi unions that called for a strike as the Delhi government failed to pay heed to their demands. [caption id=“attachment_2922820” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] After heavy rain flooded the national capital on Thursday evening, commuters on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway were stuck in a traffic jam for hours.[/caption] “Today is the third day of our strike and there’s no response yet from the government. If Kejriwal government remains deaf to our demands, we will escalate our agitation. Our members are so frustrated that some of them may get into an aggressive form of demonstration,” a group of auto and taxi drivers, who were staging demonstration in front of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence at Civil Lines on Thursday afternoon, had told Firstpost. Delhi’s 85,000-odd autowallahs — the original aam aadmi and staunch supporters of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its supremo Arvind Kejriwal — are now up in arms against the same person for whom they had campaigned and had played an instrumental role in the formation of the AAP government in Delhi. Unlike on the first and second day of the strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, the situation was relatively better on Thursday, as few autos could be seen plying in certain pockets of the city. But, gradually from afternoon, due to pressure from respective unions, auto drivers refused to take passengers. The situation was grim at prominent places like New Delhi Railway Station, Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station, Old Delhi Railway Station, Inter-State Bus Terminus, Connaught Place, India Gate, Central Secretariat, Parliament Street, Janpath, ITO, outside hospitals including Aiims, etc, as commuters were found harassed due to the absence of auto rickshaws. Delhi has 85,000 autos and 15,000 yellow-black taxis (kaali-peeli) in operation. A major scuffle took place between the auto union members and a few auto drivers at Shivaji Stadium, adjacent to Connaught Place in the afternoon, which made the situation worst for the commuters. “The scuffle took place because ignoring the diktat of the union, a couple of auto drivers accepted passengers in the morning. Given the situation, it’s not possible for us to provide autos to passengers today. We’re sorry for this,” an employee at the government-operated pre-paid auto booth at Janpath told this correspondent. Gurgaon traffic jam For the commuters who travel to work to Gurgaon from Delhi and vice versa, Thursday evening turned to be a nightmare due to massive traffic jam that stretched to a few kilometres. It has worsened to such an extent that many office-goers preferred to stay back in the office rather than return home on Thursday evening. According to Gurgaon citizens, it’s the Hero Honda Chowk (the main crossing in Gurgaon city) that led to this traffic congestion. “Every time there’s water-logging at Hero Honda Chowk. This time the level of water has risen to four feet and has paralysed the Delhi-Gurgaon highway. Meanwhile, the Gurgaon Traffic Police has issued an advisory, asking commuters to stay away from the Delhi-Gurgaon highway, as hundreds of commuters were stuck for hours on the NH8 highway after heavy rainfall lashed the city. But, is it possible for those who have to attend to duties and emergency services? There is no answer to this. Harrowing experience of citizens The people in Delhi had a harrowing experience during the three-day strike, as thousands of people were stranded at railway stations and bus stands, especially those who arrived the national capital from outside on 26 July. “I came to CP to visit my bank branch from Karol Bagh by auto rickshaw at 11.30 am. I had to settle my pension account. But, now at 2 pm, there’s not a single auto visible on the street. The only way for me is to walk up to the nearest Metro station and ride a Metro,” complained 72-year-old Sarla Devi on Thursday. Recollects Sanjeev Awasthi, who came to Delhi from Nagpur on an official trip on 26 July. “It was a harrowing experience after I got down at Nizamuddin station. There wasn’t a single auto or taxi outside the station ready to take me. After waiting for almost two hours, I finally called a local colleague of mine for help, who picked me up.” Heavy rains had compounded the agony of citizens on Thursday evening. Hundreds of commuters were found waiting for autos, but there was none. This caused immense pressure on Metros and DTC buses. Situation is equally worst for the commuters heading to Gurgaon. “I left home early morning, so I could evade this horrible traffic jam. But, by 9 am, the situation had gone worse. I don’t know, I will be back home from Delhi in the evening? The NH8 Delhi-Jaipur highway is in a state of anarchy. It’s taking four to five hours to reach Delhi from Gurgaon, instead of one-and-half hours. The reason is water-logging at Hero Honda Chowk and the road jam near Manesar due to construction of over-bridge. The spillover effect of the traffic jam can be witnessed at old Gurgaon and Cyber hub,” Gurgaon resident and professor at New Delhi Management Institute, Anil Kamboj told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_2922822” align=“alignright” width=“380”] Heavy rains had compounded the agony of citizens on Thursday evening. Hundreds of commuters were found waiting for autos, but there was none. This caused immense pressure on Metros and DTC buses.[/caption] “I hate this city like hell. Never seen such an unplanned millennium city,” Gurgaon resident Ratan Vishwakarma tweeted . What do auto and taxi unions say? More than 500 taxi and auto rickshaw drivers staged fierce demonstration and sloganeering in front of Kejriwal’s official residence on Thursday. Both auto and taxi unions came out strongly against the government, and decided not to call-off the strike unless their demands are met. “There is no question of calling off the strike. It’s the Kejriwal government that has taken to unethical practices by allowing App-based cab operators like Ola and Uber to operate in Delhi by offering excessive low tariff to passengers. This is against healthy trade practice. The government rate for taxi is Rs 14.50 per km, whereas, these cab operators are offering Rs 6 to 7 per km to passengers. This is not only damaging the taxi business, but the autos are also at the receiving end. We want fair pricing and equal competition,” said Harpal Singh, who was a part of the demonstration. However, in the late Thursday evening, the strike was called off. Demands • Cab operators such as Uber, Ola, etc, which don’t have permit to run their taxis in Delhi, should be banned from plying passengers. • Cabs bearing registration numbers of UP, Haryana, Punjab shouldn’t be allowed in Delhi, as it causes safety and security problem. • Uniformity in tariff. While, government has fixed a floor rate of Rs 14.50 per km for yellow-black taxis, the cabs like Uber, Ola allegedly offer Rs 6-7 per km. • Ola has also eaten into the space belonging to auto-rickshaws by offering low rates. • Unhealthy and unethical practice should immediately be stopped. • Immediate action against the App-based cab operators. Delhi government has failed to take action against App-based cab operators, despite having complaints against them. “This is our immediate demand. But, there are long pending demands, which Kejriwal said he would meet, once he became the CM. But, till date nothing has been materialised. We still don’t have auto-stands. We still face problems at RTOs. Getting loans for buying auto is still a distant dream. The syndicate of corruption still exists. Only a few players have changed,” alleged auto driver Hari Yadav, who originally hails from Darbhanga in Bihar. Breach of trust Without inhibition, the autowallahs are vocal about the ‘apathy and unkept promises’ of the AAP government towards them. Visibly indignant, they have started losing hope in Kejriwal, who had climbed the popularity chart riding on the shoulders of the same class. But, this time they were not alone. The regular taxis (yellow-black) have joined the protest along with autowallahs. Their common target is the app-based cab aggregators. “We’ll again resort to strike if Delhi government fails to keeps its promise of meeting our demands. Our association has asked Delhi government to ban the Ola, Uber, Meru and other cab aggregators from plying in Delhi. They have resorted to illegal trade practices by offering tariff, which is much below the official rate. Moreover, the government is allowing cabs bearing registration numbers of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab to ply on Delhi roads. This is unfair and also a threat to safety and security of passengers,” Gopal Singh Soni, a member of Delhi Taxi Association told Firstpost. No politics behind strike In his usual manner, Kejirwal has blamed Delhi’s L-G and the BJP for the strike, which the auto and taxi unions have strongly refuted. Criticizing Kejriwal for his “irresponsible statement”, the unions clarified that there was neither Congress nor BJP behind the strike. “Chief Minister Kejriwal has failed to keep his promises and today he’s not bothered about us — the same people who gave him and his party unconditional support, because he promised all of us an honest and good government. Today, it’s the same person blaming us of playing politics. Like, he has blamed prime minister and L-G that they have orchestrated this strike. The CM has made an irresponsible statement and his party is trying to create a rift among us. Let us make it clear, it’s our problem and our fight against Delhi government’s supporting unethical trade practices by App-based cab operators,” said a member of Joint Action Committee formed by 20 auto and taxi unions of Delhi. There are about two dozen unions in Delhi affiliated to Congress, BJP and AAP.