Meeting on transport right

TT, Siliguri, Oct. 3: Officials of the Bengal transport department held a meeting with transporters, tour operators and other stakeholders today and listened to their proposals on the reciprocal agreement the state has with neighbour Sikkim on movement of vehicles.

Biswajit Dutta, a special secretary of the Bengal transport department, spoke to owners of trucks, buses, oil tankers and other light vehicles, including luxury vehicles, as well as tour operators.

"At the meeting, we placed a number of proposals on the movement of Bengal's vehicles in Sikkim while articulating our inconvenience because of restrictions in the neighbouring state under the reciprocal agreement on transport," Samrat Sanyal, the executive president of Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators' association, said. "We elaborated on how tourists face problems because of such restrictions and need to spend extra money as well as change vehicles multiple times while travelling through Sikkim."

Back in April 2007, the then Left Front government had signed the reciprocal transport agreement with Sikkim. Under the pact, vehicles from Bengal can carry passengers only to the four district headquarters of Sikkim - Gangtok, Geyzing, Namchi and Mangan. There is no restriction on vehicles of Sikkim in Bengal.

"It is disappointing the then state government did not consult stakeholders before signing the agreement. Since the agreement has been signed, Sikkim has taken a strict stance on movement of Bengal-registered vehicles in the state," a transporter here said.