PANJIM: Tourist taxi unions withdrew their strike minutes after Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar assured to act against the illegal rent-a-cab and rent-a-bike businesses on Tuesday. This brought relief to thousands of tourists and locals stranded at different places across the State.
A day after failing to break the deadlock with the aggrieved operators, the government decided to hold talks to resolve the crisis. Parsekar, along with Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and a delegation of the striking operators, held a meeting at the chief minister’s official residence, Altinho.
The government also declared it would form an 11-member committee of MLAs to investigate the illegal operations. However, the decision on installing digital fare meters remained unresolved.
“CM will chair the committee to find a solution to the problems of taxi owners. The solution will be worked out within three weeks rather than lingering on the issue for months,” Lobo said on emerging from the closed-door meeting. Transport Minister Ramakrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar and Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar are part of the committee that will sit at smaller intervals, he said.
The government has directed Goa Police and Transport department to immediately crackdown on illegal rental vehicles.
All Goa Tourist Taxi Association, North and South Goa Tourist Taxi Associations had been on strike since Monday affecting the tourism trade as several commuters, including a large number of tourists, who were stranded at Dabolim airport, railway stations and different hotels.
Vinayak Nanoskar, AGTTA General Secretary, also announced calling off the strike after a subsequent meeting of taxi operators at Azad Maidan.
Goa Tourism Development Corporation and Kadamba Transport Corporation, along with tourism stakeholders, had come to the rescue of stranded passengers by providing alternative bus services at Dabolim airport. Several stakeholders in the tourism trade, including shack operators, saw a drop in business due to the strike.
