Flagging of 100 white autos will increase the connectivity in the disconnected Millennium City but at the same time it will burn a hole in the pockets of common man who would not mind being herded into overloaded sharing hellholes. Common man would have expected government to start the affordable bus service as soon as possible but that is not the case to be.
“SINCE YOU are new to the place, you must be unaware about the route or timing of the buses here,” a friend told me when I informed him that the shared and overloaded diesel autorickshaw was the ‘preferred’ mode of conveyance in the Millennium City. After half an hour wait for the green autorickshaw at a Palam Vihar road junction, we finally managed to jet off to the nearest Metro station i.e. MG Road. “Strange there are no metres fixed in these rickshaws and still you call Gurgaon a Millennium City,” my friend Mehraj Ahmad rued.
Share
Now we have heard that the city Deputy Commissioner, PC Meena has flagged off 100 white autorickshaws in the city that are fitted with GPS tracking systems and are available online and on phone number 0124-4811111. Not a bad step but how beneficial is it for the commuters who would have asked for an affordable bus service as this white auto turns you white literally - given the amount that you have shell out from your pockets. According to The Times of India, passengers have to pay Rs 40 for initial 2 km and Rs 8 per km thereafter. A waiting charge of Rs 20 every 15 minutes would also be levied.
Definitely better than the shared autos in terms of comfort but when it comes to money, it seems too much for a common man, only if the case is that authorities believe that common man doesn’t live in Millennium City. One thing for sure is that people would think of these autos only as a last resort and every penny matters when cost of living has risen too much. People wouldn’t mind being herded into the overloaded shared autos to save some bucks as the same 10 rupee journey in the crude and hell-on-the-body auto would cost you 100 bucks in the WhiteXpress that would be available between 6:30am to 10pm.
According to the paper, Meena has asked the state government to stop registering diesel autos, so that it becomes easier to phase them out. But isn’t an alternative bus service necessary? Yes, we have heard that a fleet of around 100 buses has been promised by the end of February this year but is the state government seriously thinking about the concerns of common man? On the face of it, it seems that it doesn’t but with the flagging of the latest auto service, one thing is for sure that the government is forcing people to take to expensive means of conveyance.
