Our Bureau
SHILLONG/GUWAHATI, Sep 18: The protest by Assam drivers at Jorabat led to massive chaos for passengers across Shillong and Guwahati as movement of thousands of people were affected on Thursday, particularly for those from Meghalaya who were on urgent trips to the airport, railway station, hospitals, and other important destinations.
Many tourist vehicles and passengers who were heading to Guwahati from Shillong were surprised to find huge number of Assam drivers in Jorabat who were restricting Meghalaya-registered vehicles from enter Guwahati.
As many as 5,000 drivers had assembled at Jorabat for the strike from 5 am till 1.30 pm amidst tight police security in the area.
During the protest, vehicles from Meghalaya—both commercial and privately owned—were reportedly turned back from Jorabat and prevented entry in Assam.
The protest also left many passengers stranded in Guwahati and Jorabat.
“We plan to go to Shillong, Smit and various places in Meghalaya for a field trip. However, we were stranded for several hours since embarking at Guwahati railway station on Wednesday morning,” said Prof. AKM Anwaruz Zaman, who is leading a 44-member team of students from Aliah University, Kolkata.
A. Haider, who was travelling to Guwahati for his weekly works, said he faced massive challenges due to the protest and finally decided to return to Shillong.
“Since I had to carry goods from Guwahati, changing vehicles twice or thrice would have been difficult and as a safety precaution, I decided to return back,” Haider said.
Videos have emerged about protestors stopping vehicles from Meghalaya carrying people to the airport, railway stations and even to hospitals in Guwahati. Meanwhile, a tourist taxi driver from Shillong, S. Warjri told The Shillong Times that their livelihood has been totally affected as their season of good earnings usually starts during Durga Puja and continues till January.
The driver said that majority of the tourists prefer travelling in cars like Innova and other luxury cars and they cannot be expected to travel in cars like Maruti Alto and Maruti 800s to visit tourist spots in Meghalaya.
He also mentioned that due to the lack of five-star hotels, tourists planning to visit Shillong often shift their itinerary to cover Arunachal and other Northeastern states by skipping Meghalaya,” he added.
