Mumbai: Morning commuters, mostly office-goers, faced the brunt of the bandh on Wednesday, as groups of protesters staged rail and rasta rokos, bringing all forms of public transport to a halt.
The first rail rokos of the day were in Thane, Goregaon, Virar and Nalasopara, the earliest at 7.30 a.m. in Thane. By afternoon, agitations increased in intensity, with more rail rokos being staged at major stations including Dadar, Mahim, Ghatkopar, Chembur, Wadala, Malad, Dombivali and Kurla. Central Railway (CR) services were badly hit between 11.45 p.m. and 1 p.m.
“I had to walk on the tracks to Ghatkopar,” said Akash Sharma, who wanted to take the Metro to his office in Marol Naka. “At Ghatkopar, the situation was terrible. There were no autorickshaws or Metro services. Finally, I walked to a friend’s house in Ghatkopar after coming to know that there were protests at Saki Naka and Asalpha.”
In all, 110 train services were cancelled on the Main and Harbour lines, and 60 on the Western Line. The Metro plied between Versova and Airport Road stations from 11.45 a.m to 4.55 p.m. as protests were staged outside Ghatkopar and Asalpha stations.
90 buses damaged
Ninety BEST buses were damaged by stone-pelters on Wednesday, in addition to the 83 that were damaged on Tuesday. Four bus drivers suffered minor injuries, while autorickshaw drivers stayed off the roads. “A couple of protesters accosted me near Vihar Lake and in Powai. They told me to head straight home or suffer consequences,” said Jayesh Yadav, an autorickshaw driver based in Marol. The Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) took its buses off the roads after reports of violence and damage to five buses. It didn’t ply any buses between 9.30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Protesters staged rasta rokos along the Eastern Express Highway at Goregaon and Kalanagar on the Western Express Highway, Worli Naka, Sangharsh Nagar, Chandivli, Khairani Road in Sakinaka and Akurdi Road in Kandivli. Traffic snarls were reported at Mela junction and Worli Naka, and traffic was diverted at Haji Ali via Mahalaxmi and Senapati Bapat Marg.
Commuters suffer
It took Prof. Vibhuti Patel five hours to travel from her home in Andheri (West) to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), where she teaches. “Initially, I couldn’t get an Ola or Uber taxi. When I left home at noon, I couldn’t find a autorickshaw.” Finally, she convinced an autorickshaw driver to take her to Andheri Metro station, only to find there were no services beyond Airport Road. “In the end, I boarded a CSMT-bound local around 1 p.m., which didn’t move for at least 45 minutes.”
The local finally reached Vadala Road around 2.45 p.m. where a rail roko was being staged. Ms. Patel finally reached Govandi station at 5 p.m., but not before another 20-minute halt between Govandi and Chembur stations. “We were told that some 10 people had staged a rail roko,” she said.
At the airport, hundreds of passengers were stranded at the Arrivals terminal as taxis, autorickshaws and app-based cab services stayed away. No-shows were plenty on most flights and demonstrations outside the cargo area affected operations.
According to data on Flightradar24.com, at least 229 flights to and from Mumbai were delayed on Wednesday, while at least 12 were cancelled. All airlines said they will be waiving cancellation and date-change charges, and offer full refunds to passengers who were affected by the strike.
