Bandh gets costly to commuters

Bengaluru: Some of the autorickshaw drivers in the city helped stranded passengers commute to their destinations on September 10.

Due to the bandh called by the Congress party against the fuel price hike, buses, cabs were not operational in the city. Seeing this, some of the auto rickshaw drivers came ahead and helped the stranded passengers reach their destination.

However, it is claimed that the commuters had to pay the exorbitant fares demanded by auto drivers. Balakumaran, a techie, who wanted to head to Electronic City for an important meeting, said that he shelled out a whopping Rs 1,200 for just 22 km.

“I had to go to the office as I had to finalise a project report and a video-conferencing lined up with our client abroad. I thought there would be some buses to Electronic City and I could take it. But no buses were plying on the road. The same auto ride on other days would have cost me Rs 500,” Balakumaran said.

Things were getting back to normalcy by noon, as BMTC, autorickshaws and taxis resumed operation.