MONDAY, JULY 01, 2024
Team Herald
Morjim: The coastal belt of Morjim witnessed a tense situation on Monday after tourists from Delhi clashed with local taxi operators over the issue of vehicle parking.
Sources informed that a rent a car driven by a tourist was taking a turn near a restaurant and while going so the vehicle blocked the road leading to traffic congestion following which the taxi operators asked the tourist to remove the vehicle.
However, instead of removing the car, the tourists who claimed to be from the Delhi police department and boosted that they could do anything and this led to an argument between the taxi operators and the tourists which resulted in a traffic blockade for almost over an hour.
“Tourists come to Goa and threaten us. We never harassed the tourists but it's the tourists who are threatening us saying that they are policemen from Delhi and they can do anything. They even abused us with bad words”, said taxi owner Sanjay Kole said.
Kole further pointed that lack of parking space is creating a major problem for people to park their vehicles on the road.
”Restaurants and hotels in this lane do not have proper parking space resulting in people parking their vehicles on the road which causes a lot of traffic congestion. None of the restaurants have parking facility and authorities who allow such hotels to operate are responsible for this problem,” he said.
Taxi owners also claimed that tourists were consuming alcohol while driving.
On the other hand, the tourist driving the car claimed that while he was taking a turn a taxi driver came and blocked his way and the road. There were ladies in the car who wanted to go to the hospital however the taxi owners did not listen to us and said that them fired bad words.
However, by the time the police rushed to the spot, both tourists as well as the taxi Operators had resolved the issue.
“Since none of the parties filed any complaint, no action was initiated. Both had resolved the issue with mutual understanding”, Pernem PI Vikram Naik said.
