Airport cabbies’ strike fizzles out
BANGALORE: Quick police action against protesting drivers and availability of cabs by multinational companies and small independent operators effectively ended the strike by cab drivers on Monday. Air passengers were most relieved as they were dreading the idea of having to make alternative arrangements. Most passengers reached the airport without any problem, thanks to cabs not affiliated to associations which called the strike against payment of toll on BIA road.
Nearly 200 police personnel at the toll plaza near Sadahalli Gate foiled cab drivers' plan by taking into preventive custody over 100 of them who had gathered there around 11am. They'd planned to block cabs going to the airport.
Protesting cab drivers representing the Karnataka Taxi and Tourist Operators Association and Karnataka Tourist Motor Cab/Taxi Owners Welfare Association and others were taken to the APMC Yard jail at Yelahanka around11.30am. These drivers claimed they had stopped 400 cabs from plying between 10.30am and 11.30am. Over the next seven days, at least 30 policemen will be on duty at the toll plaza on two shifts to prevent any violence.
What enabled passengers to reach the airport without hassle was the operation of more than 1,500 cabs of MNCs and independent cab companies that included Meru, EasyCabs, KSTDC and a host of private taxis available at the airport taxi rank. Somika Verma, resident of Bannerghatta Road, who came to see off a relative at BIA, said: "On Sunday, I booked a cab from the Manikantha Taxi Company. Now, I plan to take a BMTC airport shuttle to return home."
Some families came in their personal vehicles. "We were not sure whether we should book a cab or come in our vehicle. I asked my husband not to take the car for work. Now, we feel we could have booked a cab easily as private taxis are operating normally," said Ghousia Sheikh, resident of RT Nagar.
JUST 30% OPERATED: CABBIES
Sriking cabbies, however, claimed that between 6am and 11am, only 30% of the city's entire cab fleet were in operation. They claimed some passengers cancelled their flights on Monday morning and a few business meetings had been cancelled. After 11.30am, taxi schedules were normal as protesting cabbies had been arrested and most other drivers decided they couldn't risk losing the day's earnings.
Members of the protesting group said they were willing to pay toll if it was in the form of a monthly pass that offered unlimited trips as an alternative to the monthly pass of 50 trips.
The arrested protesters include G R Shanmugappa, president of All India Motor Transport Congress, R Neelakantappa, secretary of KSTDC Prepaid Taxi Drivers Association, Ramesh MP, secretary of Karnataka Tourist Motor Cab Owners Welfare Association, Shivanna, president of Bangalore Tourist Taxi Operators Association and secretary R K Holla, along with 87 others. They plan to meet the chief minister and National Highways Authority of India officials on Tuesday.
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