Robberies on NH48: Why people continue to take shared rides

Despite several cases of robberies, people on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway continue to use shared rides for a plethora of reasons, ranging from saving money and time, to the comfort of being able to travel in a car.

It’s around 7.30 pm on a December evening, and more than a dozen people are standing along the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway with their eyes glued to the incoming cars. As a white Swift Dzire slows down, they rush to it and ask the driver where he was headed. The doors open, four people sit in the car, and it speeds off. This is Iffco Chowk on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway.

In the past 45 days, at least 14 people were offered such shared rides on the NH 48 at night, and then robbed. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

In the past 45 days, at least 14 people were offered such shared rides on the expressway at night, and then robbed.

Hindustan Times, for two nights, visited two spots, Rajiv Chowk and Iffco Chowk, from which most of these cases were reported, to find that people still used shared rides just as much as they did before these incidents were reported. This is for a plethora of reasons, ranging from saving money and time, to the comfort of being able to travel in a car.

However, at the heart of the problem is the unavailability of public transport.

“The buses have no fixed timing. Sometimes, you have to wait for an hour, while sometimes two or three will leave together,” said Jitender Singh, 35, who was waiting for a ride to his house in Mahipalpur in Delhi.

Many women use these cabs because they reach their destinations faster than they would if they used a bus or the Metro.

Mamta Rajput, 21, is waiting for a ride to her house in Delhi. She has been working in a mall on MG road for the past two months and said she takes a cab back home most days.

“I don’t bother with whether it is safe or not. I have a one-andhalf-year-old son.so I get into the first vehicle I get, to reach home as early as possible,” she said, when asked whether she feels safe taking a shared cab with unknown people.

“Once, while taking a shared ride, I was the last one to be dropped. The driver stopped the cab at a random spot and said he wouldn’t let me go unless I gave him my mobile number. I told him I was married and not interested. In the end, I threatened that I would shout and alert people, which was when he finally let me go,” she said.

A PCR van parked at the junction, simply asked people to stay away from the junction and made sure no cabs stopped there. So, the drivers stopped 50 metres ahead of the van, and picked up passengers there. A car stops at the junction to pick up passengers every couple of minutes.

The situation at Rajiv Chowk was no different. In fact, the DTC buses that ply at Iffco Chowk, do not make their way here, making a commuter’s options even slimmer.

Preeti Mishra, 23, is waiting for a cab to go home. “I know there is a risk. So, I always inform my father when I board a shared cab,” she said.