Assam-Meghalaya Taxi Standoff Leaves Tourists Stranded, Resolved After Talks

A group of hundreds of travellers were stranded at the Jorabat border on the outskirts of Guwahati after a confrontation between Assam and Meghalaya taxi unions halted cross-border travel this week.

The trouble started when the members of the All Khasi Meghalaya Tourist Taxi Association (AKMTTA) initiated a blockade, preventing Assam-registered taxis from entering Meghalaya. The union complained that the increasing number of cabs belonging to Assam-based operators was cutting into the business of local cabbies.

In a tit-for-tat action, Assam's Motor Parivan Sewakarmi Sanmilita Mancha imposed a counter-strike by prohibiting Meghalaya taxis from plying at major transit points in Assam, such as Guwahati Railway Station, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, and the Jorabat entry point. As almost 90% of tourists going to Meghalaya travel through Guwahati due to its better connectivity, the standoff proved very inconvenient for travellers.

The situation was further heightened when former Meghalaya Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma's convoy was stopped by protesters at Jorabat, bringing political focus on the conflict.

By Thursday afternoon, the standoff was broken through by Assam Transport Minister Jogen Mohan. After talks with Meghalaya counterparts, it was decided on both sides to facilitate the movement of tourist taxis from both states across the border. Cooperation, Mohan emphasized, was important for the development of tourism in both the states.

Even as the services were resumed, fears lingered. The former Meghalaya Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh appealed to Assam and Meghalaya to create a permanent mechanism for dialogue to avoid such disruptions in the future. "Such long-term conflicts can inflict permanent damage on the tourism sector, which is critical for both states," Lyngdoh warned.

For the moment, traffic has normalized along the Assam-Meghalaya corridor, but the incident has highlighted the thin line between safeguarding livelihoods and ensuring unbroken tourism connectivity in the Northeast.

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