Manali cabbies call off strike

Dushyant Singh Pundir and Abhinav Vashisht

Tribune News Service

Mandi/Kullu, May 29

Taxi operators today called off their 11-day strike in Manali. Auto-rickshaw, taxi and luxury bus operators in Manali had been on an indefinite strike since May 19 to protest the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Manali SDM Jyoti Rana said they had collected approximately Rs 1,20,54,000 as environmental compensation charges from 3,361 vehicles that crossed the Gulaba check-post in the past 10 days.

In support of Manali taxi operators, taxis in several districts of the state remained off the road.

Puran Chand, president, Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators Union, Manali, said they had called off their strike as the NGT had suspended the charges till June 8, the next day of hearing. He said they had resumed their services from today.

Sources said thousands of the tourists had left as they were virtually confined to the boundaries of the town. However, there was no restriction on the tourists coming in their own vehicles.

However, the administration pressed into service Himachal Road Transport Corporation buses to ferry the tourists to the nearby destinations and the 13,050 feet Rohtang Pass, an attraction for most of the tourists coming to Manali.

Bandh cripples Manali

Tourists had a tough time in Manali as a complete bandh was observed in the town today on a call given by the Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators Union.

All business establishments, including eatery shops, remained closed and all commercial vehicles stayed off the road.

The town wore almost a deserted look and most tourists stayed in their hotels or took a stroll in the town.

Ajay Sahu, a tourist from Odisha, said they literally had nothing to eat today and regretted coming to the town. It was a taxi operators’ fight against the orders of the NGT, but why the tourists were harassed, he questioned.

However, in the evening all shops opened and the normalcy returned to the town.