Administration locks decade’s old Sumo stand in Khanabal
Drivers stage protest, demand justice
Anantnag: The district Administration Anantnag closed down the decades-old taxi stand in the Dak Bungalow area of Khanabal, leaving hundreds of drivers jobless, various cab drivers alleged.
The drivers also staged protest and demanded intervention of LG and other higher ups in this regard.
Sources said that on Friday, around 6 PM the officials of the district administration along with several teams reached the taxi stand and locked down its gate after they brought down the hoardings causing panic among the drivers, who say they had been served no prior notice.
Nazir Ahmed, the president of the taxi stand said that the Sumo Cab stand was established in the year 1979 by the then Minister, Mustafa Kamal and the stand has been paying rent to the Roads and Buildings Department and has been functioning since then.
The District administration in Anantnag, he says, wanted us to vacate from the space.
“The stand has been set-up after following proper mechanisms and by dislodging the cab drivers from the spot around two hundred families will be affected,” Ahmad added.
He also alleged that they (the drivers) were called to various offices and threatened to not speak against the move of the district administration.
However, the drivers hit the streets on Sunday as well as on Monday morning to protest the move bf the District administration in Anantnag.
Holding placards ‘We want Justice’ the cab drivers said that they have not been provided any fresh location as an alternative to shift the taxi stand.
The drivers affiliated with the stand say that the case has been fought in the High Court of Jammu Kashmir in 2019 when the administration issued notices asking the drivers to vacate the place.
The High Court in its order said that the drivers should be rehabilitated and provided an alternate location, they said.
“The area had developed as a market as well as dozens of shop owners earn their bread from this place. If the taxi stand is closed down the shopkeepers will also face starvation,” Ahmad said.
Meanwhile, the officials claimed that an alternate location has been provided to drivers and the relocation does not violate the rights of the drivers for running the Sumo Stand, as the alternate site has been already found and identified which is only convenient to the commuters and also operators of the Sumos and other private vehicles.
However, the Driver claim that they have been provided with no space as of yet and the space allotted for the stand is located on the outskirts of the town.
Ghulam Hassan Sheikh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag said that there were apprehensions of the law and order situation, after which the admin closed down to the sumo stand.
In 2019, the sumo drivers brought a stay order to the directions of the District administration asking for the relocation of the sumo stand, after which the district administration responded, he added.
He said that an alternate space has been allocated to them, which is not more than 200 metres away from the present spot.
Jahangeer Ganaie
