Taxis from Mumbai airport to Pune stuck as MIAL,cops pass buck

MIAL has not given the go-ahead for the service and also not made the parking space available. However,its DGM Suresh Chauhan said the delay was not on their part. “It is the responsibility of the police to look into the security issues and give us a go-ahead. After that,we will immediately provide the facilities (parking space etc) to start the service.”

But the police,on the other hand,are blaming MIAL. “Once the service starts,we are bound to look after the security. It’s the responsibility of MIAL to convene a meeting of the drivers,taxi owners,association representatives and police and brief everyone about the security aspect. Today,MIAL said the meeting will be convened in a couple of days.”

The taxi owners claimed they are bearing the brunt of this confusion and suffering losses due to the delay. They said MIAL promised them that the operations could be started from November 9. But on Wednesday,when the taxi owners reached the airport,they were told that the commencement has been postponed to November 14 despite the fact that they had complied with all instructions.

“On November 3,the MIAL had convened a meeting during which Chauhan said we could start the service from November 9 on tentative basis. But today when we came with about 12 vehicles we were told by the MIAL officials that we cannot start the operations till we get a green signal from the police,” said S R Shetty,Mumbai-Pune Taxi Owners’ Association (MPTOA) general secretary. He said following the court directive,the association had submitted all the information regarding the drivers and the vehicles that would operate from the airport.

After about a two-year legal battle between MPTOA and MIAL,the HC had on October 3 instructed the latter to ensure that necessary facilities should made available “expeditiously and within four weeks from the day this order is passed”.

Once the service is operational,air travellers from Pune will be able to catch a taxi from the Mumbai airport directly instead of going to a nearby point where the taxis are available.

Different takes

Mial: “It is the responsibility of the police to look into the security issues and give us a go-ahead. After that,we will immediately provide the facilities”

Police: “Once the service starts,we are bound to look after security. It is MIAL’s responsibility to convene a meeting of drivers,taxi owners and police and brief everyone about security”