Cabbies to 'beg' for more taxi stands

Tired of the constant delays and excuses from the government,especially the transport department, the taxi union has decided to take action against the government's indifference to their demand of taxi stands across the city.

Holding an urgent meeting yesterday, the union has chosen a novel way to make their demands heard. Taxi drivers have planned to beg outside Dadar railway station in front of Swaminarayan Temple to raise money for more taxi stands.

The union claims that taxi drivers will reach Dadar station at around 10 am and park their vehicles there. They will use their begging bowls to ask people for money which will then be forwarded to the Regional Transport Office.

"There will be at least 300 taxi drivers who will beg outside Swaminarayan Temple. We expect this to continue for at least three hours," said A L Quadros, Mumbai Taximen's Union, who also stated that the government claimed to have insufficient funds to set up taxi stands.

During this time, the taxis will not ply in the area. The taxi union claims that they have been demanding for nearly 1,200 taxi stands across the city and suburbs, which have either been removed for other development purposes or stolen by unscrupulouselements.

"The cost of each taxi stand that consists of painted poles and metal frames is expected to cost Rs 3,000 each. The transport department had promised to get all these taxi stands set up by July. Till now nothing much has happened and so we are protesting by begging," added Quadros, who will be leading the protest.

This decision was taken in April, when the unions had planned a similar protest. After Dadar they will continue with this campaign by begging outside other railway stations like Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, LTT and CST.

1,200
The number of taxi stands the union wants in the cityu00a0