Goa taxi strike: Govt to set up control room to hail transport

As the strike by taxi operators in Goa entered the second day on Saturday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said a special control room would be set up to help passengers and stranded tourists.

Sawant held a meeting with transport department officials and tourism sector stakeholders late Saturday evening to review the situation.

"We will announce the control room numbers tomorrow. Any passenger or tourist who is stranded can call on them and will be provided transport," the CM said after the meeting.

Tourist taxi operators in the state launched an agitation on Friday seeking scrapping of 'Goa Miles', an app- based cab service backed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation.

Two incidents of attacks on drivers of Goa Miles were reported during the day allegedly by those affiliated to tourist taxi unions, with state Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho warning that those involved will have their licences revoked.

Sawant had earlier refused to scrap the app-based cab service and asked the taxi operators to either join the service or have their own similar facility.

"Our administration is equipped to handle matters concerning the tourism industry. I want to assure the tourists visiting Goa that there are adequate intra state transport arrangements," the chief minister has said in a statement released here on Saturday.

"Tourists, domestic as well as international, are most welcome to Goa," he said.

The administration has started plying extra buses of the state-run Kadamba Transport Corporation from airport, railway stations and other tourist places to facilitate the tourists.

Stakeholders from the tourism sector said there was a a slight, but bearable impact on the industry due to the taxi strike.

They said a solution for the long-pending problems faced by the industry should be arrived at this point, without bowing to the pressure tactics by tourist taxi operators.

"There is a slight impact on tourism due to the agitation by taxi operators. But it is bearable as we are looking at finding out a long-term solution for this problem," said Savio Messiah, president, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG).

The TTAG is an umbrella organisation of all the travel and tourism stakeholders in the state, which attracts more than six million visitors annually.

"Such kind of strikes cause annoyance to the tourists who come to enjoy their holidays. Right now, there are no cancellations of hotel rooms or any significant impact on the tourism industry due to the strike," he claimed.

Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) president Manoj Caculo said tourism in the state is likely to be hit by it, adding that it was time taxi operators toed the state government's line.

"The stand of the (tourism) industry is that a solution should be found for this problem. The government has offered all the help to tourist taxi unions if they want to develop their own app," he said.