VASCO: Tourists arriving at and departing from the Dabolim International Airport were on Friday inconvenienced after being stranded in a massive traffic jam for almost two hours, following a blockade of the road from the airport to the four-lane highway by agitated taxi operators from North and South Goa over alleged manhandling of a taxi driver by bouncers deputed by the contractor appointed to collect parking charges at the exit point of the airport.
The agitated taxi operators, who assembled at the airport on Friday afternoon, blocked the exit gate located next to the highway. Around 100 taxi operators, most of them affiliated to the North Goa Taxi Owners Association, blocked the exit gate where bouncers deputed by the contractor had manhandled a taxi operator Thursday late evening after he failed to pay the money which was demanded from him.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vasco, Mohan Naik, Dabolim airport police inspector Brutano Peixeto, Dabolim airport traffic cell police inspector Navlesh Dessai and Vasco traffic cell police inspector Sudesh Narvekar intervened but failed to disperse the taxi operators from the site.
Speaking to this daily, North Goa Taxi Owners Association spokesperson Bappa Korgaonkar said that the contractor to whom the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has awarded the contract of collecting fees at the entry and exit points of the airport has deputed bouncers. “These bouncers harass the taxi operators by charging exorbitant rates and even force them to pay the charges, despite knowing the fact that taxis are caught up in traffic jams at the integrated terminal building of the airport,” said Korgaonkar.
The North Goa Taxi Owners Association has raised objection to the construction of a speed breaker at the exit point stating that it has been done to slow down the taxis while leaving the airport. The agitated taxi operators gheraoed the DySP after he threatened them to cancel their permits. They also gheraoed airport director K Srinivasa Rao and the in-charge of Century Services, P Kumar, the contractor who has been awarded the contract by the AAI.
Foreign and domestic tourists found themselves in the traffic jam after the taxi operators blocked the exit road. There were reports of some passengers even missing their domestic flights. Long queues of vehicles were witnessed from the exit gate of the airport to the airport junction. Later, around 2.35 pm, the taxi operators dispersed after deciding to approach the Dabolim police station.
Speaking to this daily, a Mumbai-bound passenger said that he was initially caught up in a traffic jam in Panaji while proceeding towards the airport. To make matters worse, he encountered the second traffic jam at the airport resulting in the passenger missing his scheduled flight.