December 2008

Day light robbery is happening in Technopark now a days by the auto rickshaw drivers near Technopark especially in kazhakootam and karyavatoom autostand. They always demand for double fare for the technopark trips .and they wouldn’t shut up till they get what they want. it seems there is nobody to control them. many complaints were registered in the kazhakkotam police station by the technopark employees, but still there is no change in the auto drivers attitude. People who are financially sound have their own vehicles and they are unaware of what the kazhakoottam autorickshaw drivers are demanding from a passenger for a single trip from kazhakootam to technopark. It’s barely 2 kms from kazhakootam to technopark (bhavani). For a normal trip they can charge only a max of Rs.20/- for 2 kms. But here in kazhakootam the story is entirely different. They are charging a min of Rs.30/- and a max of Rs.60/-. This is intolerable as far as a normal person is concerned. Things will become more worse when the female employees are traveling in auto.If they find that the passenger is a girl then they start demanding for more money. And if the girl is not ready to pay the amount, then God only knows what all Malayalam bad words she is going to hear from that person for that moment. Because of the Technopark, the auto ppl getting more and frequent trips, literally hundrads of technoparkians are commuting daily in this manner. female employees and north indian ppl are the main preys of this rude auto drivers. Only Technopark authorities and Kazhakkootam police joinlty can do something to stop it, a better solution is to provide a pay in advance ( fixed fare ) auto stand, then only we can put an end for this daylight robbery. UPDATE : Thanks for the overwhelming response from the readers and valuable comments. many of them suggested various ways to prevent this robbery. like if any auto driver demand more money and quarrel with you, just give money and note down the registration number. and you can file a complaint to the kazhakootam police station, and online as well. here is the web link of trivandrum city police : http://www.tvmcitypolice.org/home.jsp . or register your complaint at 0471-2469223-RTO Trivandrum . Also make others aware about it. please pass this information to all of your friends in technopark. Related News : Rape attempt on Software Engineer by an auto driver It happened a few months back, A software engineer escaped a rape attempt by an Auto driver last week in Trivandrum. The techie who missed her morning company bus had taken an auto for Technopark from her hostel in the city. She was taken to a secluded place and an attempt was made to rape and when that failed, to rob her by the Auto driver and his friend who joined them en route. The employee of the leading Software Company in Technopark realized that the auto driver was taking her elsewhere. “When asked, he said it’s a different route as there was some deviation on the main road. Later he stopped in some weird location and tried to pull my dress and attacked me. When I jumped out, he pulled my chain… it broke but luckily fell in my hand and then I ran. Somehow I got back home. I couldn’t have gone to office in those torn clothes”, says this girl who’s lucky to have got away with just bruises on her face, neck and hands. This Techie from Chennai who has been in Trivandrum for a year has no clue about the place nor could she write down the vehicle number. The senior management has taken it up with the City Police Commissioner but it’s going to be difficult task to nab the culprits in the absence of details. Most companies in Technopark ply a single bus trip to office in the morning, unlike other cities where there are multiple trips. If one misses the bus, its difficult reaching office as local bus connectivity is poor. “We have no option but to pay up the exorbitant rates demanded by auto drivers. Not to say the risk we take by getting into an Auto”, says Gopika* who works in Infosys. The auto drivers ask for a fare in excess of double meter reading for a trip to Technopark. There have been similar incidents of harassment and molestation of Software Engineers by Auto drivers in Trivandrum in the recent past. This brings up the safety issue of Technopark employees. Meanwhile, this Techie who had joined this company as a fresher has put in her papers as she’s had enough of Trivandrum.