Taxi strike cripples Manali, tourists stranded
All taxis of Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators’ Union, Luxury Coach Union and autorickshaws on Tuesday started an indefinite strike against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to limit the number of tourist vehicles going towards Rohtang to 1,000 a day and against imposition of high cess — environmental compensation.
Sources said cabbies were not in a mood to call off the strike. Operators maintained that the strike would continue till the time NGT does not dismiss its orders.
Meanwhile, tourists coming here in their own vehicles did not face any problems, those who came by buses had a tough time. A tourist from Chennai, Karthikeyan, who came by bus, said, “We found ourselves caught in the strike without any notice. We spent the entire day in our hotel, as did all those have who here after spending thousands of rupees only to see snow. Those who are preserving the nature should not impinge on the rights of tourists.”
Most tourist hotspots had a very few visitors. Even the traffic on roads was thin. A few tourists who ventured out had to walk. “We reached Manali by Volvo but did not find any taxi to take us to hotel. We had to carry our luggage and walked for at least 3km to reach our hotel,” said Manjeet Singh, another tourist from Delhi. As he and his family are here only for two days, they covered the local sightseeing spots on foot.
Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators’ Union general secretary Makar Dhwaj Sharma said strike will continue on Wednesday. “We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to tourists and local residents. But we have no other choice. This is our peaceful movement to protect our livelihood. Volvo operators too have assured us to join the strike from Thursday,” he said.
Kullu additional deputy magistrate Vinay Singh said the administration will ensure that tourists are not facing any problems due to the strike. “As ordered by NGT, we shall enforce environmental compensation from Wednesday. Only those 1,000 vehicles would be allowed to move beyond Gulaba which pay environmental charges of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 for petrol, diesel and vehicles having seating capacity of more than six respectively,” he said.
Govt to file SLP in SC
Taxi operators on Tuesday met minister for urban development and town and country planning minister Sudhir Sharma and requested him to move to present their side before the court – as to how their livelihood would be affected after the NGT order. Sharma said state government is going to file special leave petition (SLP) in Supreme Court against the NGT’s orders.
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Taxi strike cripples Manali, tourists stranded
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