From order to chaos: The onward journey from stations

THEY ARE present outside every Metro station in the National Capital Region: rows of cycle rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and erickshaws, waiting for passengers, and sometimes fighting over them. At many Metro stations, passengers are free to choose their own rickshaw. And in others, rickshaw lines are not only maintained, but enforced strictly.

One of them is Noida Sector 16 Metro station, where only the rickshaw-puller in front of the line calls out to the passenger, while the others behind him wait for their turn. Anyone “breaking the line” is subject to the choicest verbal abuses and even threats of violence. “Line mein nahi chalenge to jhagda ho jaata hai. Sabne khaana kamana hai isliye sab sunte hain (If we don’t stand in the line, it will trigger a fight. Everyone has to earn their livelihood here so we obey the rule),” says Babu, 30, a rickshaw-puller.

The “lines” are drawn even more clearly at the Patel Chowk Metro station. The “share autos” here cater to those going to nearby government offices or the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. The autorickshaw drivers follow an unwritten but well-understood set of guidelines. None of them will seat passengers unless the first autorickshaw is full or passengers are heading to different destinations.

The Delhi University Metro station, on the other hand, does not have such an organised system for passengers looking for transport options. The rickshaw pullers venture inside the station premises to call out to passengers. The autorickshaw drivers stand outside the station, push against each other and try to catch the attention of passengers.

“Here, whoever manages to catch hold of a passenger, wins. There are no lines,” says Irfan, a rickshaw-puller.