Mumbai CNG crisis takes toll on school, college students

The CNG crisis left auto and cab drivers as well as commuters in limbo on Tuesday Many students were late for classes and a few barely made it to their college examinations Commuters remained huddled near bus stops Metro exits and auto stands as more than a thousand CNGpowered school buses were off the roads forcing them to find alternative ways to reach their institutionsStd XI student Jasmeh Sethi who was late for her tuition classesIn Goregaon parents nervously stood next to their children carrying schoolbags with not one auto rickshaw in sight Even when they managed to halt an auto the drivers were unwilling to take themldquoWe were supposed to be at school 20 minutes ago but not a single auto is willing to take us there Since my children are young I drop them off at school and we usually take the autorickshaw This has made things very difficult for us in the past two days Either we donrsquot get an auto at all or they charge us morerdquo stated Naseema Irfaan Javed Ali and Reshma Padwal residents of Goregaonrsquos Bhagat Singh NagarMyron Castaleno waits for transport outside Nanavati Hospital PicsAditi AlurkarMeanwhile the school bus association managed to get private buses to ensure that the students made it to school ldquoWe used private luxury buses for nearly 4050 schools on Tuesday As of now we hear that the CNG pumps have begun functioning which is why we have queued up our buses at the pumps We hope to return to normality tomorrowrdquo said President of the School Bus Ownersrsquo Association Anil GargFarther down the road at Juhu an Std XI student Jasmeh Sethi was sure that she would miss her tuition classes ldquoUsually I get an auto for Andheri station from this very spot in five minutes But things have been difficult for the past two daysrdquo she told middayEven in Dadar and Matunga where autos donrsquot ply school students faced their fair share of troubles ldquoThis Tuesday morning we had to board extra students in the buses owing to a shortage of vehicles The buses were slightly overcrowded and a few students had to stand up What happens tomorrow is dependent on the CNG authoritiesrdquo said Ramesh Manian a school bus operatorLate to classFor older students who regularly take autos to their college not showing up on Tuesday was the simpler way out Nabeeha Shaikh a Jogeshwari resident could barely make it back from her tuitions in Andheri last night ldquoSince I was unaware of this situation I simply walked to Andheri station to get an auto at 830 pm However no one was willing to travel to Jogeshwari and those who were doubled the faresrdquo said the 20yearold student On Tuesday Nabeeha didnrsquot travel to college nor pay her tuition owing to the crisisLate for their internship two students from LS Raheja College tried their luck with auto rickshaws on Tuesday morning but found one neither on the road nor on apps ldquoWe have been trying to get to Bandra West for the past 30 minutes but to no avail We canrsquot find autos on Uber either which is why we are now trying cabsrdquo said Devani Jain a studentThe empty auto pickup line at Terminal 2 PicMadhulika Ram KavatturOutside Gulmohar Road where several colleges are lined up students found it difficult to get to the closest railway station with no auto rickshaws Trying to get back to her house in Lokhandwala secondyear student Juhi Merani said ldquoI had an exam this morning in college and I had to do my best to get here in time I ended up paying R200 instead of the usual R100 to get to collegerdquo Lakshya Gautam another student saw this trouble brewing since Monday evening ldquoI left home early this Tuesday morning because I knew it would be difficult to find an auto to collegerdquo he saidTroubles with HealthcarePatients and visitors had lined up outside the Nanavati Hospital as well Unable to find an auto rickshaw home many resorted to booking cabs but faced the same issue all over again ldquoI hadnrsquot eaten anything for a long time since we had to do the blood tests After all that waiting for transport for this long has left me exhaustedrdquo said Myron Castaleno who waited for over 45 minutes to find a way back to Santa Cruz EastAuto shortage at airport continuesSCARCITY of autorickshaws at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport continued on Day 3 of the CNG crisis in Mumbai On Monday passengers getting out of the airport were at least getting autorickshaws after a wait of about 45 minutes but on Tuesday the pickup line of the auto stand was completely empty as drivers refused to pick up passengersEmployees of private facility management services firm Krystal Group guided passengers to alternative modes of transport such as bus services or the Metro Line 3 ldquoAuto drivers are asking for R500 more than what the base price is We have been asking passengers not to wait for autos here and to go directly to the main road where they might find transport if theyrsquore lucky or else to use the Metrordquo said a Krystal employee on the condition of anonymity Madhulika Ram Kavattur