Nagaland Police department appeals to call off indefinite ‘chakka bandh; vehicle owners say NO

MOKOKCHUNG — The Nagaland Police department has requested the commercial vehicle owners associations of various districts to call off their proposed indefinite “chakka bandh” to prevent any inconvenience to the public, saying that endeavour to make the payments “immediately”.

“The Nagaland government has approved expenditure sanction to clear all outstanding dues incurred for hiring of private vehicles during the conduct of the Nagaland State Assembly Election 2023,” read the appeal shared on Nagaland Police handle on X.

‘The actual disbursement of dues may take a few days on account of the administrative process involved,’ it added.

However, the commercial vehicle owners associations said that it will go ahead with the indefinite “chakka bandh” starting today, Friday, until they receive their pending bills.

An official of the Commercial Vehicles Owners Associations of Mokokchung told this newspaper that they have lost faith in the assurances (letter or verbal) of the government and that the agitation would continue until the outstanding payment is made.

The “chakka bandh” will come into effect in all the six districts — Mokokchung, Tuensang, Zunheboto, Longleng, Phek and Peren — starting from 5 am, which means the operation of all commercial vehicles, including two-wheelers, local taxis, inter-district taxis, pickup trucks, buses and heavy trucks will come into a stand still.

In Mokokchung, the commercial vehicles owners associations said that they would deploy volunteers at strategic locations to enforce the bandh.

The bandh will paralyse transportation of people, essentially commodities and medicines, as well as students who rely on public transportation to attend classes.

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