PERNEM, August 9: Blue Cab taxi operators from Pernem have urged Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to suspend toll collection for local taxis on the NH-166S link road to Manohar International Airport until the promised “Green Cards” are issued.

In a representation submitted to the Chief Minister on Sunday, Sudip Narayan Tamankar said commercial toll collection on the 6.58-km road connecting Dhargal on NH-66 with Mopa airport is scheduled to begin on August 10.

Tamankar stated that local taxi operators use the road several times daily to ferry passengers and that repeated toll payments would impose an unsustainable financial burden on them.

According to the representation, the Chief Minister had earlier assured Blue Cab operators that Green Cards, serving as toll-exemption passes, would be provided. However, the letter claimed that no system had yet been introduced to protect local operators from toll charges.

The operators also demanded that the traditional Dhargal–Nagzar–Mopa airport road remain permanently open and unobstructed. They described it as an essential toll-free alternative for taxi operators and residents of surrounding villages.

The representation requested the state government to halt toll collection from local taxis until the exemption cards are formally distributed and to issue directions ensuring that the traditional route remains accessible.

Tamankar said hundreds of families in Pernem depend on airport taxi operations for their livelihood and appealed for the Chief Minister’s immediate intervention.