Many find a saviour in taxi driver’s selfless service
Citizens were in a fix on Tuesday night as the civic body had miserably failed to ensure that the rainwater gets drained off fast.
Thousands rather lakhs were stranded at various places, some in office, some on railway stations and trains and many on roads, who were wading to reach their homes.
Mumbaikars and the Mumbai Police were the real heroes as they ensured that no citizens are left stranded without any help. One could see police helping citizens to get into some or the other vehicle that can ferry them if not to their home but at least to a safe place.
The woes of citizens, multiplied after the kaali peeli cabbies refused to even stop and also there were no availability of any appbased vehicles, courtesy to the waterlogging.
Amid all this chaos, there was Sunil Patil (34) a driver by profession who has a private vehicle and ferries people to higher grounds and to their homes.
Patil, a resident of Vile Parle, found himself stranded near Andheri on Tuesday afternoon. However, till Wednesday evening, Patil helped at least 50 persons to reach their homes or some safe place that too by only accepting 50 per cent of the fare and in some cases, he even refused to accept money.
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Patil said, “I was in my vehicle and was stuck near Andheri on Tuesday afternoon. I could see people wading through waistdeep water and asking taxis to help them but to my shock, none came forward.”
“Some girls came near my vehicle and asked me if I can take them till Bandra, I asked them to sit and somehow managed to reach the place but after a tedious drive of two hours,” Patil recollects.
Patil had an option to go to his home and be safe with his wife and children, however, he decided to help citizens in need.
“I was pained to see women, small children and even senior citizens wading through water and taxis denying them any help. I decided to help citizens as much as possible and asked people to board my vehicle and dropped them to some safe place or their homes. I helped around 50 people and dropped them near Mulund, Dadar, Churchgate, Nariman Point and Chembur among others,” he said.
“When I was headed towards Mulund from Dadar ferrying three men and an aged woman, one of them did not had any money. I told them that there is no need to pay and from that time on, I only accepted either 50 per cent or less amount. This was because the journey was too much tedious and citizens were already hit by the worst rains so I did not wanted them to suffer more,” Patil said.
Patil’s service was for humanity and not for making money.
“This was a day when humanity in us was being tested. I saw my fellow drivers asking thousands of rupees to ferry people for smaller distances but I think that was wrong. This was a time when people wanted help and I thought I have got this opportunity to serve the citizens and so I did my bit,” Patil concluded.