BHUBANESWAR: Passengers in the state capital continued to bear the brunt of the ongoing strike by the ride-hailing app cab and auto drivers and bike riders, for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, with several of them remaining stranded at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, railway station and Baramunda bus stand here for hours at length.
Several passengers complained that they were forced to wait for long periods or seek alternative mode of transport, after arriving at the station or airport in the city. The worst affected were the airport/railway passengers, patients, office-goers and students.
To add to their plight, the city bus service too was hit on the day owing to the congestion at Station Square. A woman who arrived here in a train from West Bengal’s Kharagpur said she waited for over two hours but could not find any public transport to reach her destination. Another passenger named Dipesh said he had to walk around 1 km with luggage to reach the railway station for boarding a train.
Several citizens took to social media to express their concern and frustration over the situation, and complained of alleged hooliganism of the protesters. “The protest is meaningless as the state government has got nothing to do with Ola (an Indian transportation company) and Uber (a multinational company). Damaging government city buses shows that these drivers just want their hegemony with anarchy and gundaraj. They want normal public to pay high prices,” said a citizen.
Echoing similar views, another social media user said, “These people are not even allowing government app Odisha Yatri to operate.” “If they have issues with Ola, Uber or Rapido, they should protest at their offices and not destroy public property and disrupt traffic. Police must take strict action against those involved in vandalising the public property,” wrote another user on X.
Allegations have also surfaced that the rideshare app drivers willing to work to meet their daily expenses were being threatened not to do so by the protesters. “One of my friends has been working with Rapido during nighttime to support his poor family.
He was beaten up by a few auto drivers on Tuesday after they came to know that he was accepting rides,” said a citizen. As the issue is yet to come to a resolution, commuters expressed apprehensions about further disruptions in the coming days. Meanwhile, protesters have threatened to call for Odisha bandh if their demands were not met.