Under the banner of Uttarakhand Taxi-Max Parvatiya Maha Sangh, which is now spearheading the indefinite cab strike in the State, the protestors, mainly the Taxi-Max cab operators, staged a demonstration at the district headquarters Pauri on Thursday in support of their 15-point charter of demands and also against the indifferent attitude of the Uttarakhand Government.
Hundreds of protestors participated in the rally that starting from the Mall Road snaked through bus station, Dhara Road, Collectorate, Upper Bazaar and Agency before ending at the point whence it started. The Transport Minister was torched in his effigy after the rally ended.
With the indefinite strike and Chakka Jam entering its second day on Thursday, the private cabs stayed off the roads in the five hill districts of Garhwal region, leaving the commuters inconvenienced. The remote areas of the hill districts bore the maximum brunt of the dragging stir. Many were seen trudging several kilometers to reach destinations. They slammed the Government for having made no alternate arrangements of transportation in view of the chakka jam stir. Some private buses of GMOU ltd aside from the Uttarakhand Transport Nigam fleets are now operating in the five hill districts of Garhwal region. However, their number was few and they plied mainly on the National Highway and state highways, ferrying people from the prominent places. “We from the remote areas continue suffering,” said a villager.
However, Maha Sangh Pauri district president Kotwal Singh Negi and vice-president Mahendra Singh Bhandari claimed that the strike was successful on its second too. They reiterated the strike will continue till the Government responds positively to their demands.