A conflict has triggered between the rental motorbike establishments of Leh and Manali in Himachal Pradesh, who rent out bikes to tourists for proceeding to Ladakh.
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, has sought intervention of Lt Governor Brigadier BD Mishra (Retd) to resolve the dispute as Ladakh’s rental bike establishments were suffering losses due to the illegal practice of rented bikes coming to the UT from Manali.
Chairman of LAHDC, Leh, Tashi Gyalson, called on the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh to discuss the law and order issues arising due to the conflict between the rental bike associations of Manali and Ladakh. ADGP, Ladakh, Satish Khandare and RTO Ladakh, Mohammad Nazir Sheikh were also present in the meeting.
Gyalson apprised L-G of the case filed in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh due to the conflict arising between Ladakh Bike Rental Cooperative Limited and the Bikers Association of Manali. He informed L-G about the need to restrict the inter-state movement of motorcycles from Himachal in Ladakh.
He also informed about the clauses in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which read: ‘The tourist permit may be granted to the cabs registered under the Rent-a-Cab scheme 1989 and not to the motor cycles registered under Rent-a-MotorCycle Scheme, 1987’ and ‘Except as may be otherwise prescribed, a permit granted by the Regional Transport Authority of any one region shall not be valid in any other region, unless the permit has been countersigned by the Regional Transport Authority of that other region, and a permit granted in any one State shall not be valid in any other State unless countersigned by the State Transport Authority of that other State or by the Regional Transport Authority concerned.’
Gyalson alleged that the Bikers Association of Manali are not following the Act and are illegally entering Ladakh. He stated that legal provisions should be followed and bikes from Manali should not be allowed to enter Ladakh unless they have a valid permit from the RTO Ladakh. He also alleged that the members of the Bikers Association of Manali are disturbing peace and order at Sarchu.
The L-G has asked Gyalson to wait for the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways ruling as per the order passed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh so that appropriate measures can be taken in this regard to ensure the livelihood of Ladakhi youth engaged in rental bike business is not affected.