Auto claims all gas

On Day 3 of MiD DAYs Meter Down campaign we found autorickshaw drivers blaming their empty fuel tanks neck sprains and fatigue for refusing to plyLocation Chembur StationTime 10 am to 12 pmOffenders Caught2 Commuters SpeakShivani Karadkar a Marathi actor said Since I was not getting a cab I tried to hail a rickshaw However the auto driver refused to ply If they want to refuse passengers then why do they even bother halting Pratibha Munge who was travelling with her sister to Suman Nagar said Thanks to theu00a0 drive by the traffic officials the cases of refusals and arrogant behaviour among auto drivers have declined Such campaigns should be carried out in the future tooGood job Commuters were pleased to see the drive against arrogant auto drivers across the cityAuto drivers speakEshwar Shinde a rickshaw driver said I am not afraid of the fine that is to be paid Since my licence has been seized the procedure to get it back will take at least 3 days Aijaz Shaikh a rickshaw driver said My meter was half down and in this case a refusal is not considered Text Faisal G Tandel Pics Atul KambleGet in line Auto drivers were requesting commuters to follow the rules and board through a queueLocation Ghatkopar station WTime 9 am to 11 amOffenders caught 8Commuters speakPrabhadevi Girja who works at Powai said This rickshaw crackdown is a great initiative The rickshaw drivers have been bullying people for a long time For the past two days it has been easier to catch a rickshaw with the traffic police around Ghatkopar stationAuto drivers speakGanesh Prasad Yadav a rickshaw driver who was booked said The commuters forcibly enter the rickshaw and threaten to complain against us for refusals And if we ferry them the traffic police catch us for taking people out of the stand Weu00a0 suffer both ways Damodar Tambe a rickshaw driver said Going to Marol is a big problem as the roads are in bad condition So we refuse to go to these places Our rickshaw wires break we suffer punctures and going there causes a lot of lossesCommon excusesKisi ne pucha hi nahi tho maine ha bhi nahi bola aur refuse be nahi kiya No one asked me so I did not say yes nor did I refuse This was after the rickshaw drivers drove past the entire rickshaw queue and got caughtGas nahi hain No gas in the tankTalk to the hand An auto driver argues with a constable after he was caughtInnovative excuseGale mein moch tha tho main exercise kar raha tha aur passenger ko na bol raha hoon aise laga Had a catch in my neck and exercising it The passenger thought I said no said Nadeem Khan when he was asked why he refused to go to Marol Spot of botherThe MiD DAY campaign has managed to knock some sense into auto drivers John Aranha a computer engineer working at Andheri wanted to catch a rickshaw on the wrong side of the road without standing in the queue He however was asked to remain in queue by the drivers On any other day rickshaw driversu00a0would have agreed to jump the line and ferry me But today they actually refused and stated that there was a rickshaw queue and that I should stand in line This made me feel a little ashamed but at the same time I was glad that the rickshaw drivers were following the rules and we the commuters were not Text Maleeva Rebello Pics Datta KumbharVoicesMeter Down on Radio OneAarti Tolani The rickshaw walas in our locality Chembur are super rude The universal problem is that no rickshaw wants to ply for a short distance fare And often they take a longer route or drive into a traffic jam just to get more fareRajshree Vyasu00a0 I stay in Malad and yesterday was caught up in the unseasonal showers I wanted to go from west to east Normally I use the FOB but since it was raining yesterday I thought I would take a rick However despite seeing me drenched in the rain and pleading none of them were willing to ply I had to wait for the rains to stop and then walk my way homeNinad Ghalsasiu00a0 I stay in Borivli and its a fight of the quickest every day to get a rickshaw in the morning from my place to the station Something really needs to be done to channelise the autos I really appreciate the initiative taken by MiD DAY Mumbai Traffic Police and Radio One and only hope that this will ease our everyday problemsu00a0u00a0