Bangalore: Traffic came to a standstill near Majestic Railway Station on Saturday and passengers had a harrowing time trying to make it to their respective trains, as auto drivers unions took out a vehicle rally to highlight their demands. Nearly 2,000 auto rickshaws took part in the ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ rally, which began from Majestic and passed by Freedom Park on its way to Raj Bhavan.
Many affected passengers questioned the logic behind granting permission for a protest at such a busy area like Majestic. Additional Commissioner of Bangalore Traffic Police, Dayananda B pointed out that the auto unions were supposed to start their protest from Anand Rao Circle, but chose Majestic instead. However, Mohideen from the auto union Jaya Karnataka said,“It was decided from the beginning that the protest will start from Majestic Railway Station.”
Agreeing to the fact that there were confusions, Dayananda said, “The auto rickshaws were supposed to move in a single operational line and drive in coordination without disrupting traffic. But they did not follow the instructions. This lead to chaos.”
Rohini Panda, who was heading to the Railway Station to board a train for Bhubaneswar, said, “I have just 10 minutes to board my train.” Harried commuters and motorists had many more such tales to narrate.
