Mumbai: The Bombay Goods Transport Association (BGTA) on Friday urged the State government and the Mumbai Traffic Police to revoke a notification that bars entry of heavy vehicles in South Mumbai from 7 a.m. to midnight. “It has become next to impossible to conduct business with such restrictions,” said Vijay Rawal, president BGTA.
The notification has been in force since February 1 and the members said that no prior intimation was given to them. Anil Vijan, honorary general secretary, said the BGTA members had met Joint Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, City) Ashok Dudhe as well as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek a solution. “One of the suggestions was that we do the loading and unloading work at night.
However that is not feasible,” said Mr Vijan as most mathadi workers will not work at night and transport owners will have to pay double wages. “The extra wages will have to be passed on to consumers which will increase the overall cost,” said Mr Vijan. Besides, most of the godowns were located in Masjid Bunder, Dongri, and Girgaum, which are primarily residential localities. “Working at night in these areas will cause inconvenience to the residents,” said Jatin Dharamshi, member of BGTA’s managing committee. Mr Vijan said their business had shrunk by 25% to 30%.
The transporters’ body today demanded that the state government should set up a dedicated Transport Nagar on war footing and impose the restrictions of the entry of heavy vehicles, post that. “It’s a sad state of affairs that Mumbai, being the financial capital of the country, is the only city in the country that does not have a dedicated transport truck terminal. Unfortunately, the MMRDA has scrapped their plans of Wadala Truck Terminal,” said Mr. Vijan. Members have said that even a truck terminal in the outskirts of the city such as Dahisar, Bhiwandi or Panvel, will serve the purpose. “The truck terminal will ensure that heavy vehicles do not enter city limits, the last mile connectivity will be provided for by light vehicles,” said Mr. Rawal.
“We will wait until March 31, after which we will be compelled to take some other action,” said Mr. Rawal adding that they will take a call on the next course of action at the end of the month.
