Chairman, LAHDC Leh, Tashi Gyalson met the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) on May 24 and discussed 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, Mohd Nazir Sheikh were present at the meeting.

CEC apprised LG of the case filed at the High Court of Himachal Pradesh due to the conflict between Ladakh Bike Rental Cooperative Limited and the Bikers Association of Manali. He informed LG 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 motorcycles registered under Rent-a-Motor Cycle 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.’

He also informed that the Bikers Association of Manali is 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 Bikers Association of Manali members are disturbing peace and order at Sarchu.

LG asked CEC to wait for the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India’s 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 the Ladakhi youth engaged in rental bikes business are not affected.