Mumbai CNG crisis leaves students stranded, late for school and exams

Pupils remain huddled at autorickshaw, taxi stands as over 1000 CNG-powered school buses go off roads; School Bus Owners’ Association hires private buses to cover essential routes

Mumbai CNG crisis takes toll on school, college students

Goregaon resident Reshma Padwal and her children wait for transport

The CNG crisis left auto and cab drivers as well as commuters in limbo on Tuesday. Many students were late for classes, and a few barely made it to their college examinations. Commuters remained huddled near bus stops, Metro exits, and auto stands as more than a thousand CNG-powered school buses were off the roads, forcing them to find alternative ways to reach their institutions.

Std XI student Jasmeh Sethi, who was late for her tuition classes

In Goregaon, parents nervously stood next to their children carrying schoolbags, with not one auto rickshaw in sight. Even when they managed to halt an auto, the drivers were unwilling to take them. “We were supposed to be at school 20 minutes ago, but not a single auto is willing to take us there. Since my children are young, I drop them off at school, and we usually take the autorickshaw. This has made things very difficult for us in the past two days. Either we don’t get an auto at all or they charge us more,” stated Naseema Irfaan Javed Ali and Reshma Padwal, residents of Goregaon’s Bhagat Singh Nagar.

Myron Castaleno waits for transport outside Nanavati Hospital. Pics/Aditi Alurkar

Meanwhile, the school bus association managed to get private buses to ensure that the students made it to school. “We used [private luxury buses] for nearly 40-50 schools on Tuesday. As of now, we hear that the CNG pumps have begun functioning, which is why we have queued up our buses at the pumps. We hope to return to normality tomorrow,” said President of the School Bus Owners’ Association, Anil Garg.

Farther down the road, at Juhu, an Std XI student, Jasmeh Sethi, was sure that she would miss her tuition classes. “Usually I get an auto for Andheri station from this very spot in five minutes. But things have been difficult for the past two days,” she told mid-day.

Even in Dadar and Matunga, where autos don’t ply, school students faced their fair share of troubles. “This [Tuesday] morning, we had to board extra students in the buses owing to a shortage of vehicles. The buses were slightly overcrowded, and a few students had to stand up. What happens tomorrow is dependent on the CNG authorities,” said Ramesh Manian, a school bus operator.

Late to class

For older students, who regularly take autos to their college, not showing up on Tuesday was the simpler way out. Nabeeha Shaikh, a Jogeshwari resident, could barely make it back from her tuitions in Andheri last night. “Since I was unaware of this situation, I simply walked to Andheri station to get an auto at 8.30 pm. However, no one was willing to travel to Jogeshwari, and those who were doubled the fares,” said the 20-year-old student. On Tuesday, Nabeeha didn’t travel to college nor pay her tuition owing to the crisis.

Late for their internship, two students from LS Raheja College tried their luck with auto rickshaws on Tuesday morning but found one neither on the road nor on apps. “We have been trying to get to Bandra West for the past 30 minutes but to no avail. We can’t find autos on Uber either, which is why we are now trying cabs,” said Devani Jain, a student.

The empty auto pick-up line at Terminal 2. Pic/Madhulika Ram Kavattur

Outside Gulmohar Road, where several colleges are lined up, students found it difficult to get to the closest railway station with no auto rickshaws. Trying to get back to her house in Lokhandwala, second-year student Juhi Merani said, “I had an exam this morning in college, and I had to do my best to get here in time. I ended up paying R200, instead of the usual R100, to get to college.” Lakshya Gautam, another student, saw this trouble brewing since Monday evening. “I left home early this [Tuesday] morning because I knew it would be difficult to find an auto to college,” he said.

Troubles with Healthcare

Patients and visitors had lined up outside the Nanavati Hospital as well. Unable to find an auto rickshaw home, many resorted to booking cabs but faced the same issue all over again. “I hadn’t eaten anything for a long time since we had to do the blood tests. After all that, waiting for transport for this long has left me exhausted,” said Myron Castaleno, who waited for over 45 minutes to find a way back to Santa Cruz East.

Auto shortage at airport continues

SCARCITY of autorickshaws at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport continued on Day 3 of the CNG crisis in Mumbai. On Monday, passengers getting out of the airport were at least getting autorickshaws after a wait of about 45 minutes, but on Tuesday, the pick-up line of the auto stand was completely empty, as drivers refused to pick up passengers.

Employees of private facility management services firm Krystal Group guided passengers to alternative modes of transport, such as bus services or the Metro Line 3. “Auto drivers are asking for R500 more than what the base price is. We have been asking passengers not to wait for autos here and to go directly to the main road where they might find transport if they’re lucky, or else to use the Metro,” said a Krystal employee on the condition of anonymity.

- Madhulika Ram Kavattur