Mumbai:
With more than 80,000 taxis and close to one lakh autos off the roads in Mumbai, the city's embittered public on Monday was in for a harrowing time.
Besides causing inconvenience to commuters, the strike played a prominent role in a senior citizen losing his life.
The 70-year-old man was injured while crossing the tracks. As there was no ambulance available, the railway porters left him outside the station.
According to railway officials, Ahmed Ali Khan was crossing the tracks at Kurla station when he was struck down by a CST-bound local leaving platform no 5.
Eyewitnesses said the railway staff took 10-15 minutes in getting a stretcher for Khan as he lay injured on the tracks.
Police officers from a nearby chowki reached the spot within five minutes but left Khan bleeding profusely at the roadside for nearly 20 minutes as they could not find a cab or an auto to take him to the station.
"His stretcher was kept by the roadside and he was losing a lot of blood. The police had three or four jeeps stationed there, but did not use them and searched for an auto or taxi instead. Nobody agreed as they feared being assaulted by their fellow drivers for violating the strike," said an eyewitness.
Finally, more than 45 minutes later, a taxi driver agreed to go to Sion Hospital after a cop threatened to take action against him. Khan was admitted to the hospital at 12.30 pm and succumbed to his injuries a few hours later.
"I was not ready to take the person to the hospital as we were warned against venturing out on the road during the strike. But, seeing the victim's condition and due to police pressure, I took the bleeding man to Sion Hospital. The cops were giving me the fare, but I refused," said Imran Khan, the taxi driver who took the victim to the hospital.
The railway police confirmed the accident and said they had registered a case of accidental death. When Central Railway PRO, Srinivas Mudgerikar, was informed about the incident, he said, "During an accident, we try our best to take the person to the hospital as soon as possible and the railways foots the bill for the transport.
"In serious cases, we either inform the nearby police station or the ambulance agencies working on contract with us. If there was any negligence and the person was left on the road without trying to take him to the hospital, we will look into it and conduct an enquiry."
On the ambulance not being available at the station, he said, "We have ambulances only at CST and Kalyan stations."