Shillong, Sept 30: In a major breakthrough in the stalemate over the issue of allowing outside tourist cabs in tourist destinations in Meghalaya, several tour operators of Meghalaya have decided to unanimously resolve the problem and maintain a peaceful atmosphere.
The tour operators under the banner of Tour Operators Association of Meghalaya took the decision in a joint meeting of 11 tourism organisations and tourist taxi associations here on Saturday. “After extensive deliberations, members of all the organisations agreed on the importance of maintaining a peaceful atmosphere in Meghalaya for the benefit of all tourism stakeholders and visitors,” said an official statement. The tour operators also reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring safety and security of tourists
visiting the state.
The decision also came in the wake of the state government’s decision to constitute a
committee to look into various issues impacting tourist taxis and suggest solutions to the issue. The committee will comprise representatives from Tourism, Law, and Police departments, district authorities and other relevant departments besides the stakeholders. Earlier, the tourist taxi associations of Khasi Hills warned of resorting to hunger strike if the government failed to fulfill their demand for ban on tourist vehicles from outside the state plying to various tourist destinations.
They had demanded that all vehicles registered outside Meghalaya should stop only at ISBT Shillong or any designated place provided by the state government and local tourist vehicles should ferry the tourists to the tourist spots within the state.
The cabbies had pointed out that compared to the tourist vehicles from Assam operating in Meghalaya, there are very few Meghalaya vehicles plying to tourist spots in Assam.
There were also incidents of Assam registered tourist vehicles being sent back from tourist spots by the protesting members of tourist taxi associations, leading to tension between the two states.
