Yet again Auto fares have been hiked yesterday in Bangalore. The already burdened Bangalorean is further pinched.
The minimum fare now is Rs.20 for the first few Kms & Rs.11 per Km thereon. What a way to loot the common man.
If auto drivers are honest, we dont mind paying these fares, but majority of Bangalore auto meters are tampered... I can confidently say that 90% of them. And after 9 p.m, these tampered meters don't work either... only fancy figures emerge out of the mouth of an auto driver- they demand fares as per their imagination.
There are no checks & autos have become a big cartel, a big mafia , perhaps an easy way to make a fast buck.
Autos are taking advantage of the poor intra city transport service & our Police & Politicians are doing nothing about it.
The saving grace is BMTC, which is scaling up its services, thanks to some efficient officers manning the department. But this needs much more improvement.
If we closely observe, the common public prefer to use BMTC buses & the small Metro stretch, instead of these costly, unsafe & erratic autos. Auto preference is definitely on the decline.
In fact, half of Bangalore's pollution & accidents are due to autos.
I am not making a blanket statement that all auto drivers are bad... there are a handful of honest ones too. But these men get masked in the huge hay stack of unruly drivers. I do believe that autos are a good means of personal transportation provided the rule book is followed.
WIth the second phase of Bangalore metro poised to be inaugurated soon, it is for sure that Auto preference will take a drastic hit. Citizens must urge the Government to spread the metro rail network to every possible area of bangalore, just like the Delhi metro.
This is the only way to each these auto walas a lesson... there must be a limit for greed.
We citizens must make the smart move of using public transportation more often. I do understand that in peak hours, its a bit difficult considering jam packed BMTC buses. But we also have an option of Volvos in many places. Lets use this service. Lets show that the average Bangalorean wont gulp down any dirty water served to him. Lets stand up. Lets fight for our rights.
We have to fight for ourselves... our elected representatives (who appear only during elections), our law enforcers, our buereaucrats... they are all busy, fending for themselves & carving a future for their next generations.
I hope this review finds some support.
