Decision of Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Kohima to shift Kohima regional taxis stand to ISBT, around 3km away from Kohima town, with a view to easing traffic congestion within Kohima town, has been opposed by the commuters.
Earlier, Kohima District Planning and Development Board (DPDB) said that the primary objective of shifting regional taxis to ISBT was to ease the traffic congestion within the Kohima town.
The commuters claimed that shifting of taxi stand would lead to a lot of problems as they have to shell out extra bucks.
Earlier, passengers spent Rs. 250- Rs. 300 to reach Kohima, but now have to pay more than Rs. 500 including hiring a taxi from ISBT to reach their destination.
When about the bus service from ISBT to Kohima, an elderly person, who is a regular commuter, said that buses were hardly available and have to wait for hours. “It becomes inconvenient for bus drivers to ferry one- two passengers, with a capacity of 20-30 passengers,” he said.
A female passenger, who spent Rs. 300 to reach Kohima, said that she now pays extra charge to reach Kohima.
“It is understandable that the administration have taken decision to ease traffic congestion, but at the same time they could have made an appropriate calculation of the expenditure, because it is the common public who are suffering”, she said.
One of the taxi drivers said that they did not have any problem as it was their job, adding that they were only following the guidelines of RTA.
He expressed concern that the commuters were the one facing the problem by paying extra charge. He said earlier the taxi stand was at the centre of the town, which was easily assessable.
All Nagaland Taxi Association (ANTA) president Dziesevituo Solo told Nagaland Post that there were more that 400-500 taxis at the station during week days and 200 taxis on weekends.
At present, he said there was only one hotel near ISBT, adding that more hotels would soon be coming up. He also claimed that taxi drivers had no problem with the change of the location.