The Railways decided to crack the whip on striking motormen, sacking as many as 20 of them even as local train services were disrupted for the second day today.
Railway officials today confirmed that 10 motormen from Central Railways and a similar number from Western Railways were dismissed from services, as local trains were operating at 15-20 per cent of their capacity. According to television reports, on the Central Railway, only 350 of the 1,494 trains were plying.
Meanwhile, the situation of the roads took a turn for the worse as both western express and eastern express highways remained jammed, as office-goers were forced to hail taxis and autorickshaws, or travel in jam-packed buses to get to their places of work. Several were complaining of inflated taxi and auto fares.
Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil has inducated that the state government will take up the issue with New Delhi, and will seek the Centre's intervention in this matter.
The state government is also reviewing if provisions of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) could be invoked in this case, he said, even as he advised commuters to leave office early to avoid getting stuck in traffic.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation arising out of the motormen's strike. Police, railway and transport officials will attend the meeting, official sources said.
Chavan had yesterday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested his intervention to end the strike, the sources said.
The Chief Minister also spoke to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and requested her to take stringent action against the striking motormen, they said.
