The taxi turf war between tourist taxi operators from Canacona and those from Margao flared up on Tuesday, both accusing each other for obstruction from conducting the taxi business.
While the taxi operators from Canacona stopped a car that had gone to Palolem for a pick up and told the driver to return home, the taxi operators from Margao stopped the car when the driver had come to drop the customer in the city.
As the city taxi drivers later lodged a complaint against the driver with the Fatorda police, a group of tourist taxi drivers from Canacona rushed to the Fatorda police station on late Tuesday.
The taxi operators from Canaona made an impassioned plea to the Chief Minister to work out a solution to the issue of customer pick up done by taxi operators from outside the taluka “Outside tourist taxi drivers are coming to Canacona to collect guests, leaving us with no business. We demand that the government work out a permanent solution to this issue and allow us to make a livelihood. If outside taxi operators come to Canacona and collect the hotel guests, how are the local operators expected to survive”, a Canacona taxi operator D Bandekar demanded to know.
On the other hand, Mayur Rane told the media outside the Fatorda police station that around 15 persons obstructed a taxi driver, who had gone to pick up guest at Palolem and was made to return home without the guest.
He said when the Canacona taxi driver came to Margao to drop the customer; the city taxi operators lodged a complaint against him at the Fatorda police station. “This has been happening for the last one month and half wherein city taxi operators are not allowed to enter Canacona for a pick up”, Rane said.
He pointed out that if the Canacona taxi operators continue to stop the city operators from picking up guests from Palolem and other places, the city operators will retaliate against them in the city.
