With transporters off the roads, it is the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) that has come to the rescue.
At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Prabhakar Reddy, KSRTC Divisional Controller (Bengaluru), got a call of distress from agriculture officials. A shipment of potato seeds (which were to be distributed to farmers for sowing in the coming season) had arrived at Whitefield Railway Station from Punjab. The delicate seeds had to be taken to a cold storage facility close to Hoskote within a few hours, else they would become duds. “We did not have the time to remove our seats to increase capacity of our buses. We rushed 20 buses within half hour,” he said.
Nearly 100 trips were done to and from Whitefield station, and the whole load — crammed into luggage spaces, on and under the seats — were transported.
As the transporters’ strike intensifies, more associations have joined the strike against the hike in insurance premiums for goods vehicles.
With the strike expected to continue longer, KSRTC has geared itself for all exigencies.
“We have instructed all our district offices to ensure buses to help farmers transport their agricultural produce. The last two seats of the bus can be removed if needed to increase the transport capacity. KSRTC will coordinate with Deputy Commissioners of the districts so that KSRTC buses can be called to transport health essentials or horticulture produce,” said S.R. Umashankar, Managing Director, KSRTC.
At Kolar, a meeting held on Wednesday, sought to prepare KSRTC buses and trucks owned by the State corporation in case milk transporters go off the roads.
Fruits, veggies prices up
Rates of fruits and vegetables, primarily procured from outside the State, have started to increase as the transporters’ strike continues. “There has been a nearly 40% dip in quantum of oranges coming from Nagpur or beans from Ranchi or even peas from Ooty. Some manage to bring it to the markets through trains or trucks that are not on strike. But as supply has been hit, prices have gone up,” said Keshav S.H., manager, Marketing, Hopcoms.
For instance, in three days, the price of Orange Nagpura has gone up to ₹57 from ₹45; while peas from Ooty has touched ₹100 per kg.
Company cabs may join strike on Friday
A day ahead of a large planned protest, company cabs, which ferry lakhs of workers to and from multinational companies, are expected to remain off the roads from Friday. “From April 7, contracted cabs will not ply on the roads. The decision will be announced during our strike on Thursday,” said G.R Shanmugappa, General Secretary, South India Motor Transport Association, who also heads the Bengaluru Tourists’ & Taxi Owners’ Association.
Among the demands are a rolback of the steep rise in insurance premiums on vehicles, particularly transport vehicles; withdrawal of toll plazas on national highways where the capital cost of the project has been recovered; as well as scrapping of the Karnataka government’s announcement of taking toll from 17 state highways.
The associations are also in talks with petrol and diesel tank owners to join the strike — which, if agreed to, may affect fuel dealers over the next week. The associations which have extended support will be gathering at Freedom Park on Thursday.
