Taking exception to restricting the movement of heavy vehicles in the city from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., truckers have threatened to launch an indefinite strike from January 1 until the restriction is withdrawn.
The new rule is “unnecessary and unscientific”, G.R. Shanmugappa, Chairperson of The All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the representative body of truck operators, told presspersons on Friday.
“Thousands of vehicles ferrying essential commodities, including vegetables, clothes and construction materials come to the city. If these vehicles are supposed to enter only in the night, who will provide security and labour?” he asked.
He said that nearly 1,000 lorries arrive at the APMC yard every day, apart from 400 to Kalasipalya and 200 to K.R. Market. It will take five tempos to ferry just one lorry load into the city. “Will this not increase the number of vehicles on the city’s roads? No other city has such a rule,” he added.
He also said that nearly 1,500 trucks enter the city from Tumakuru Road and over 1,000 from Hosur Road. “We will be forced to stop all vehicles on these roads,” he said and added that more accidents are caused by BMTC and KSRTC buses. “Let them regulate these buses, improve road infrastructure and promote the use of public transport instead of bringing in unnecessary rules,” he said.
However, the Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners Associations, headed by B. Channa Reddy, has decided not to support the strike.
Toll collectionMr. Shanmugappa opposed the proposal to collect toll on State highways. The cabinet had recently approved this proposal. “How and where is the government going to collect this toll,” he asked.
Earlier, he welcomed the Centre’s decision to bring in a national permit for tourist buses. He said that under the new scheme, bus operators will have to pay an annual amount instead of paying to State governments for operating in their jurisdiction. The new rates, to be applicable in a month’s time, are Rs. 50,000 for ordinary tourist buses, Rs. 75,000 for luxury tourist buses and Rs. 1 lakh for super luxury tourist buses. The entry tax for Karnataka was high and was resulting in harassment of bus operators from other States, he alleged.