Guwahati: Assam border protection and development minister Atul Bora on Sunday said it could take a couple more days to restore normal vehicle movement between Assam and Meghalaya. Several Assam-registered vehicles were still being stopped while attempting to enter Shillong, despite what Bora described as “positive talks” between the two govts on Saturday.Meanwhile, Meghalaya deputy CM Sniawbhalang Dhar on Sunday assured the state’s protesting tourist taxi associations that their grievances would be addressed. The associations subsequently suspended their agitation against Assam-registered vehicles until Sept 10.The crisis erupted on Aug 19 after violence during a Khasi Students’ Union bike rally in Shillong, in which several vehicles, including those registered in Assam, were attacked. Several people were injured.In response, Assam cab operators blocked traffic to and from Meghalaya at Jorabat and other entry points in Kamrup Metropolitan and Kamrup districts. Meghalaya taxi operators subsequently imposed similar restrictions on Assam-registered vehicles.After holding talks with 14 organisations, mostly representing cab drivers and transporters, in Guwahati on Sunday, Bora said everything depends on the situation in Meghalaya. “For normalcy to return, it may take a day or two,” Bora said.The situation turned uneasy again on Sunday morning, when many Assam-registered vehicles were allegedly stopped by Meghalaya cab drivers at Umiam while travelling to Shillong.During their meeting with Bora, cab drivers and transporters from Assam sought assurances that attacks on Assam-registered vehicles and their drivers in Meghalaya would be stopped. Bora said all safety concerns had been raised during the three-hour ministerial meeting held at Koinadhara in Guwahati on Saturday. The meeting was led by Dhar and Bora.He added that the CMs of both states were closely monitoring the situation. “The blockade may continue today as the Meghalaya deputy chief minister said he could not immediately speak to the protesters in their state after Saturday’s ministerial meeting at Koinadhara. But we hope it will be resolved at the earliest,” Bora said.Meanwhile, authorities in Meghalaya’s Ri Bhoi district, adjacent to Guwahati, said protesting taxi operators and other associations had agreed to disperse and assured free movement between the two states through the key Jorabat corridor on Guwahati’s outskirts.
