M Padma gets down at the Kasturba MRTS Station and looks for a share auto to drop her at Perungudi. As the auto makes its way to the next stop, a huge crowd fights to find a place inside the auto, where commuters are already cramped for space.
“On Thursday, the auto driver kept taking people in. When I questioned him after he shouted at me to give more space for the extra passenger, he asked me to get down and walk if I could not adjust,” recalls the 30-year-old IT professional.
Verbal abuses, minor bruises and the occasional groping incidents seem to plague commuters who use the share autos that ply in various parts of the city even as these vehicles don’t pay too much heed to the safety of the passengers. While the incident of a school kid losing her life in Madurai owing to overcrowding in an auto shocked readers recently, police in the city seem to be least bothered by such violations.
When this reporter took several trips on share autos on the busy Rajiv Gandhi Salai, a plethora of issues faced by the passengers came to the fore.
According to them, the number of share autos plying in the city is way below the demand levels, strengthening the hands of these drivers. While the number of authorised share autos in the city is 197, about 2,500 such vehicles are estimated to be on the roads.
Commuters say the issues worsen on working days, when large crowds flow into the busy IT corridor. “The less fare is the obvious reason why we opt for share autos. If I take a normal auto from the Kasturba Station to Tidel Park, they ask me for a minimum `60. These guys give a ride for `10,” says Sivanthi, IT professional from Hyderabad.
Women who travel by these vehicles point to perverts who emerge now and then. “Their boarding point is usually the Indira Nagar Station. They get into the vehicle and keep touching us. When we question them about it, they point to overcrowding and say it that it was an accident, though we are sure it was intentional,” says Padmini, a student. She alleges that even cases of groping have been reported. “This is why we now travel in groups of four to defend ourselves. Women from outside the city are the worst affected as we cannot speak the local language,” she says.
These vehicles are designed to accommodate more passengers. Some even have three or four additional wooden planks fixed on the sides to accommodate the crowd.
Other passengers say overcrowding is incentivised by reducing the fare. “If you are the last one to get in but a little reluctant due to the crowd, they ask for just half the fare,” says Sivasubramanian, who commutes by share autos on L B Road.
When this reporter questioned a driver about the overcrowding under the guise of a passenger, verbal abuses were hurled. “For taking a trip for `10, you are talking this much. Get down if you don’t want to travel, but you have to pay the money,” threatened the driver.
When City Express questioned the beat policemen nearby, they said they could not intervene in each case. “Passengers have to make that choice. We tell them that the norm is only six people and if there are more, don’t get in. They just do not listen,” said an official.
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