No autos at Central on strike day

CHENNAI: Hundreds of passengers who arrived at Chennai Central on Tuesday were left stranded with heavy baggage after prepaid autorickshaw drivers decided to take part in the nationwide stir.
Elsewhere, drivers were demanding up to three times the normal fare in areas where autorickshaws were plying despite the strike.
P Mohan Kumar, a regular passenger from Bangalore, said he planned to take an auto from the prepaid counter at Chennai Central but found the stand empty.“Now I will have to call for a taxi,” he said.
“I usually depend on pre-paid autos because the fare is affordable. Passengers with heavy luggage have no alternative. I will have to pay more for a taxi,” added Mohan Kumar, who wanted to go to Mylapore. Like Mohan Kumar, most passengers were forced to take call taxis.
Chennai Central Railway Station Auto Drivers And Commuters Welfare Society president G Arumugam said all the autorickshaw drivers affiliated to the society had joined the strike. “Thousands of people use prepaid autorickshaws from the station. But the association has decided to join with other unions for a cause,” he said.