Transport strike against amended MV Act brings Delhi-NCR to a standstill

The services of Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation buses remained unaffected.
Passengers face difficulties outside New Delhi Railway Station as most of the taxies and auto-rickshaws were off the roads due to transport strike, in New Delhi on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.(Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)
Passengers face difficulties outside New Delhi Railway Station as most of the taxies and auto-rickshaws were off the roads due to transport strike, in New Delhi on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.(Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

NEW DELHI: A transport strike call on Thursday against the amended Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) in Delhi and the adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) areas has affected people badly as cabs, auto-rickshaws and private buses remained off the roads.

The call for the strike had been given by the United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA)-- an umbrella body of over 50 unions in Delhi-NCR -- against the steep penalties under the amended MVA.

Not only office-goers faced difficulties in reaching their workplaces, parents too had a hard time while taking their children to schools on Thursday morning. In fact, some schools in Delhi remained shut in view of the strike.

Many parents received SMSs from schools intimating them about the closure in view of the day-long strike.

A message from GD Salwan Public school read: "Dear parent, on account of the strike called by private transporters under the banner of the United Front of Transport Association in Delhi/NCR, the school shall remain closed for the students of classes nursery, KG and 10th on 19/09/2019."

Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, also remained shut and many other schools closed for the day following the poor attendance of the students.

The UFTA has blamed the BJP-led Centre and the AAP-led Delhi government for the strike.

"We have been seeking redressal of our grievances related to the new MV Act from both the Centre and the Delhi government for the last 15 days, but no solution is there insight thus forcing us to go for the one-day strike," said UFTA General Secretary Shyamlal Gola.

Delhi suburb towns like Noida and Faridabad were also affected by the transport strike.

However, Delhi Metro came as a breather for the harried commuters. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses also were on the roads easing the pain of commuters.

However, the services of Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses remained unaffected.

United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA) general secretary Shyamlal Gola said over 50 transport associations and unions in Delhi-NCR were taking part in the strike.

The UFTA is demanding the withdrawal of the steep hike in road traffic penalties and certain other provisions of the new Motor Vehicles Act.

Kishore Lal, a government employee, said he had to take the metro as the daily chartered bus from his residential colony to his office did not ply.

"We waited for 15 minutes but the bus did not come. So we are taking the metro now," Lal, whose office is at the CGO complex, said.

The DTC buses were more crowded than usual due to the extra load of passengers. Some autorickshaws were also seen ferrying passengers.

Kishan Chand, an autorickshaw driver, said this could be because the night shift ended at 8 am. The autorickshaws would stop ferrying passengers as the day progressed, he added.

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