Taxi Operators at Mopa Airport Stage Day-Long Strike Demanding Changes and CM's Intervention

Tourist taxi operators attached to the new international airport at Mopa in North Goa's Pernem town observed a day-long strike on Thursday in support of their various demands, including prohibiting what they claimed illegality in transport business at the aerodrome.

While the agitation continued throughout the day in Pernem, there was no impact on transportation of passengers and tourists at the Manohar International Airport, said sources in the company which operates the aviation facility.

"There was no impact on services provided to travellers," said the sources in GMR Goa International Airport.

The tourist taxi operators along with other stakeholders, including owners of beach shacks and water sports facilities, besides members of opposition parties, including the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Goa Forward Party, took part in a protest in Pernem.

In the evening, Pernem MLA Praveen Arlekar of the BJP said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant would meet agitating tourist taxi operators and others around noon on Friday and listen to their grievances.

Earlier in the day, Arlekar and Mandrem MLA Jit Arolkar (Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party or MGP) failed in their attempts to pacify the agitators who insisted on an audience with the CM.

The taxi operators have demanded that those amongst them who are from Pernem be given a counter free of cost at the Mopa airport as they have sacrificed their land for the facility which is operational since January 2023.

They are also demanding immediate roll back of "exorbitant" parking charges and arrival-pick up levies which, they claimed, were hiked without taking into confidence local authorities.

The protestors asked the airport management to stop illegality in transport business currently being practiced at the airport. "Operation of rent-a-cab service from the parking area should be stopped immediately," they said.

The taxi operators have also demanded removal of "illegal" cab aggregators counters.

As the agitation continued, Pernem MLA Arlekar met the protesters in the evening with the message that Chief Minister Sawant would be meeting them around noon on Friday.

As per official data, around 500 taxis operate from the airport.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)