VAGATOR: The core of the tourism culture ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (the guest is like our god) appears to have been “tarnished” with tourists being forced to bear the brunt due to the clashes between local taxi drivers and GoaMiles escalating day by day.
This became evident when a tourist who booked a GoaMiles taxi in Vagator revealed his hour-long ordeal in a video which went viral on social media.
According to sources, this particular tourist has been visiting Goa for the last several years and in the video, he has appealed to the State government and the Chief Minister of Goa to take serious action as the current dispute between local taxis and Goa Miles is affecting ordinary tourists. The tourist had booked a GoaMiles taxi from Vagator-Chapora junction. However, after getting into the car, the local taxi drivers stopped the GoaMiles taxi and started arguing and questioning why he booked GoaMiles taxi instead of hiring local taxi.
The tourist told the local taxi drivers that he used the service provided by the Goa government and was unaware of the dispute between the local taxi drivers and GoaMiles. He said such behaviour of local taxi drivers has caused him inconvenience and has delayed his arrival at the airport.
In the video, the tourist expressed his displeasure and said it is indecent for such a thing to happen in the tourist destination state like Goa. He demanded that the government should take note as such disputes cause inconvenience to tourists and mental distress.
The tourist appealed to the Chief Minister to initiate action against those, who obstruct the taxis for an hour and prevent such incidents in the future.
Meanwhile, the local taxi drivers had earlier warned that drivers of GoaMiles would not be allowed to pick up customers from the coastal belt.
