Mysore/Mysuru: With the entire country under COVID-19 lockdown, auto drivers, who are a vital cog in the movement of people, are now a worried lot as everything has come to a standstill following the lockdown.

The auto drivers, who depend on passengers for their livelihood, are now looking at the skies wondering when the lockdown ends and normal life returns in the city. The auto drivers, who were already  facing threat from Ola and Uber online Taxi services, are now forced to cope with lockdown regulations, which has completely shut down their services.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, some auto drivers said that this hitherto unseen crisis has thrown their life and livelihood out of gear. Maintaining that they were staring at a very uncertain future with no other alternative means of livelihood, they said they were now facing the biggest challenge of their life.

K. Narayan, a 40-year-old auto driver of Gokulam, said that the earth has come crumbling down for him as he has lost his livelihood following the lockdown.

Claiming that he was finding extremely difficult to make ends meet for his family comprising his wife, a 10-year-old son and an aged mother, he said that taking care of his family was the immediate challenge before him in the absence of earnings.

Krishna, an auto driver of the auto stand on Thyagaraja Road, said that all the eight auto drivers of the stand were  struggling to make ends meet due to loss of income.

Pointing out that allowing the autos to provide emergency  transport services on hire will bring some relief to the drivers, he urged the local authorities to consider their pleas in this regard.

Swami, a Goods auto driver from Doddamaragowdanahalli in the taluk, said that the lockdown had snatched  away their earnings and with no other alternative means of livelihood, the auto drivers were finding it extremely difficult to lead life.

Wondering whether the lockdown would end on Apr.14, he said that he was seriously thinking on how to lead life if the lockdown extends beyond that.

Another driver, Shivaprasad Raju, said that although the Government was providing them rice under Anna Bhagya scheme, they were facing other financial challenges such as payment of house rent, utility bills, education of children and other household expenses.

He wanted the Government to come to the rescue of auto drivers who were now facing severe problems, with no other sources of income.