Local taxi operators from Pernem have warned of a road-blockade agitation from May 2, if they are not allotted a yellow-black taxi stand at Manohar International Airport immediately.
The taxi operators issued the warning after taking part in a protest rally on Monday and visiting the local temple to seek blessings ahead of their protest.
The operators warned that if a yellow-black taxi stand is not notified and orders are not issued immediately, they would proceed to the Nagzar junction and stop all vehicles travelling to and from the Mopa airport.
Written application demanding stand submitted
They claimed that a written application demanding a yellow-black taxi stand at the Manohar International Airport had been submitted on January 23.
“Taking note of our petition, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and local MLA Pravin Arlekar had assured that our demands would be fulfilled. However, not a single demand has yet been fulfilled and we have now lost our patience,” said a taxi operator Bhaskar Narulkar.
“The government should immediately allot us our legitimate taxi stand and notify it in the newspapers. If the government fails to do this, we will stage a rasta-roko and will not allow a single vehicle to pass towards the Mopa airport from the Nagzar junction.”
“The taxi operators had already warned the government eight days ago that they would start an agitation if their demands were not fulfilled, and this agitation will continue till the time taxi stand is not allotted.”
Narulkar complained that the government had made many promises, but not even one has been fulfilled.
“An announcement was made that the taxi stand would be allotted on the auspicious occasion of ‘Akshay Tritiya’ but that has not materialised. This protest rally on Monday is a silent protest, but if the government does not fulfil our demand, we will be on the streets on Tuesday,” warned Narulkar.
Narulkar demanded that the private counter opened at the Mopa airport should be immediately closed.
“The lawful taxi stand is still not being allotted to the legitimate local taxi operators. If the government wished, it could have given us a taxi stand in 10 days, but it did not do that. That’s why we are compelled to start a ‘Rasta Roko’ from Tuesday.”
Uday Mahale also accused the government of giving false promises since the past four months.
“Our lands have been grabbed by the government. The transport department also has taken our jobs. We will not fight with the GMR company, but our fight will be against the government. We want justice. We are giving a last ultimatum to the government,” said Mahale.
