The East Khasi Hills Local Taxi Welfare Association (EKHLTWA) and the Synjuk Ki Nongniah Taxi Sor bad Khapsor (SNTSK) on Friday registered strong opposition against the district administration's decision to impose the odd-even system-only for public transport vehicles in the name of easing the congestion problem in Shillong.
The delegation of the two local taxi associations met the deputy commissioner RM Kurbah separately requesting her intervention to revoke the said order.
This came a day after the district administration had issued an order directing all public transport vehicles – SPTS buses, SSPTS - maxi cabs and black and yellow local taxis – plying from Kashari Point towards Khyndailad (Police Bazaar) and Motphran are to operate on an Odd-Even basis from June 5.
"We met the DC, who is also the Chairman of the Regional Transport Authority and expressed that we cannot accept the order since Khyndailad and Motphran are the only two major commercial areas in the region and disallowing public transport vehicles from plying through these two areas is totally not acceptable," EKHLTWA president Wandonbok Jyrwa told reporters after the meeting.
"The DC told us that she cannot revoke the order as it was in pursuant to an order passed by the Meghalaya High Court. Therefore, we feel there is no point in continuing the discussion," he said.
Jyrwa said that the association has decided to appeal to the Meghalaya High Court against the order which is affecting the livelihood of the taxi owners and taxi drivers. The government should also be reminded that taxis are paying hefty taxes and disallowing them to ply through these two areas only shows that they are being treated as "slaves".
"Further, the government should also find out the real cause of the traffic jam in Shillong. To say that taxis are the only cause contributing to the traffic jam is not acceptable as there are also many private vehicles plying in the city. Therefore, we will appeal before the Court to ensure there is no biasness done to the local taxis," he asserted.
The order issued by the district magistrate was in pursuance to the High Court’s order to adopt immediate measures to ease the traffic in Shillong, particularly around the central business district and the entry and exit points.
“Whereby vehicles having registration numbers ending with odd digits (1,3,5,7,9) are to ply only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and vehicles having registration numbers ending in even digits (0,2,4,6,8) are to ply only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Such restriction shall not apply on Sundays,” the order had said.
Furthermore, every vehicle should only bear a High-Security Registration Plate (HSRP) and a copy of the vehicle's Registration Certificate should be made available for inspection at any given time.
The order had also said that anyone found driving with tampered number plates shall be dealt with strictly in accordance with relevant provisions of the law, including revocation of driver's license.
“This Order shall subsume the directions passed by the Chief Executive Officer, Shillong Municipal Board in respect of plying of SSPTS-Maxi Cabs vide letter dated Shillong, May 30, 2023,” it had said.
