Mumbai: First Covid-19 wave took away their income, now their cabs are gone

As the pandemic sucked the zing out of Mumbai last year the passenger footfall at the cityrsquos airport became a trickle cutting off Suraj Singhrsquos income as a cabbie Left with no means to support his family due to the lockdown Suraj parked his taxi at the airport and headed for his hometown unaware that a bigger shock awaited him He is among 40 cabbies whose taxis have now been auctioned for being left at the airport for several monthsMany cabbies said they were not even aware of the proceeding against them as they had gone home during lockdownThe cabbies plan to move the Bombay High Court against the decision of the Mumbai International Airport Limited Dr Randhir Lamba AVPCorporate Relations at MIAL says the first notice was sent to the cabbiesrsquo registered addresses on December 25 2020 the second in the first week of February 2021 followed by a public notice in newspapersThe taxi drivers however said their registered addresses are of Mumbai and there was no way they could have known about the notices They said they never imagined such a harsh step would be taken during a national crisisSuraj 35 said he somehow managed for a few days but it became nearly impossible to even feed his wife two children and parents ldquoI returned to Mumbai a few months ago and went to the airport to take my cool cab One of the tyres and some parts were missing The repair cost was about R15000 While I was busy arranging for the money in the middle of the second wave they auctioned my taxi last monthrdquo he told middayDuring prepandemic days there used to be over 1000 taxis at the parking lot of Mumbai airport daily The scene drastically changed after a lockdown was imposed MIAL said nearly 200 cabs remained parked for several monthsChhotelal Pandey 50 has been ferrying Mumbaikars in his taxi for years and would visit the airport daily Like Suraj Chhotelal too went to his village last year ldquoIrsquove learnt from friends that my taxi has been auctioned Irsquove five kids and you know how costly it is to live in Mumbai Thatrsquos why I didnrsquot go back to Mumbai I had bought the vehicle in 2009 and paid off the loan a few years ago Just when I was free from EMIs I lost my taxirdquoPicking up and dropping off airport passengers was a daily ritual for Kanchan Singh The 32yearold Marol resident too left Mumbai for two square meals for himself and his family When he returned one tyre the battery and some parts of his taxi had been stolen ldquoI needed to spend Rs 15000 to Rs 20000 to make my taxi roadworthy But there was no way I could raise that money during the second wave So I went back I have to take care of my wife and kids and the taxi was my lone source of incomerdquoKrishnakant Pandey who has been a taxi driver in the city since 1993 said ldquoI have been parking my taxi at the airport for so many years How did it get auctioned During this Covid19 pandemic even if I take a loan to buy a new taxi how will I pay the EMIs The business has come to a standstillrdquoLooking for a driverrsquos jobSandeep Kumarrsquos taxi is gone too He says he missed the notice since he was not in the city ldquoWith my taxi gone Irsquom looking for a driverrsquos job Earlier I owned a car now Irsquoll drive othersrsquo carsrdquoT2 bears a deserted look on May 26 2020 FilePradeep DhivarSanjay Mali said his sisterrsquos wedding was to be held in June 2020 but it had to be pushed to December Mali could come back to Mumbai only last month ldquoI had taken a loan of Rs 1 lakh for the taxi and had paid off only Rs 50000 Apart from the remaining money Irsquove to pay my daughterrsquos school fees I donrsquot know what to do nowrdquolsquoUnfair moversquoIt was unfair to auction the taxis particularly when the drivers were forced to go to their villages just for survival said Rakesh Mishra general secretary of Bhartiya Taxi Chalak Sangh ldquoWe are with the taxi drivers We will file a petition in the courtrdquolsquoAuction done legallyrsquoDr Lamba from MIAL said taxis were removed for security reasons ldquoFor a year 118 black and yellow taxis and 98 cool cab taxis were parked at the airport parking lot After a notice some people removed their taxis Those who did not remove the taxis were then issued a final notice Public notices were also issued in newspapers The taxis that were not removed from there even after that final notice were auctionedrdquoDr Lamba said ldquoKeeping in mind the security of the airport it is not advisable to park unknown taxis there All legal procedures have been completed before the taxi auctionrdquoOne of the notices issued by airport operator MIAL Cabbies said since the notices reached their Mumbai addresses there was no way they could have known about the auctionAbout the cabbies planning to move court Dr Lamba said ldquoThese people are going to court it is their democratic right we have not done any wrongrdquoKrishnakant Pandey said they understand the concerns over security but the pandemic had left them with no choices ldquoAfter the lockdown was imposed we could not park our taxis on roads fearing police action Whatever we did was out of compulsion but the auction has made our lives miserablerdquo216No of cabbies who had been served notices