Mumbai doubly hit: no trains, few taxis

Mumbai: The second day of strike by drivers of local trains crippled Mumbai again, causing huge traffic jams and forcing people to stay at home.

Railway authorities said only 20 per cent suburban trains were operating because of the strike by motormen, who are demanding hike in their salaries and allowances. "The situation in the city is getting worse. The government should immediately take step in to resolve the matter. It’s pathetic," said Ramesh Bhoga, an accounts manager with a private firm in Andheri.

"I could not go to office due to this strike. Last night while returning home, I had to face lot of problems," said Bhoga, a resident of Worli in Central Mumbai.

"Severe action should be taken against motormen," said Balakrishna Lingal, a senior executive in a private firm at suburban Bandra.

"I know many people who walked for 15 to 20 km to reach their destinations yesterday. I reached my office in a taxi but the roads were clogged due to huge traffic jams," he said.

The traffic police made extra deployment on the city roads to control the traffic and maintain a smooth flow on the roads, particularly on Western and Eastern Express Highways, after many trains got cancelled and commuters opted for road transport.

"As per norms only three passengers are allowed in a taxi but we are taking no action against taxi drivers exceeding the limit viewing the train strike," said a traffic policeman at Worli.

Commuters, who were already harassed because of the strike, suffered worse because 40 per cent of the city taxis were off the roads on Tuesday.

Taxi service has been affected because most drivers live in sub-urban Mumbai and could not reach their work place, Mumbai taxi union leader A L Quadros told PTI.

"Most of the taxi drivers reside in suburbs and they could not come to town to run the taxis. Therefore, 40 per cent of the 40,000 taxis are off the road today," Quadros said.

"We did not have any problem on Monday but today those who went home could not come back for duty," he said.

Taxi drivers could not reach some of the main taxi hubs like Bombay Central, Agripada, Wadala causing inconvenience to lakhs of commuters, he added.