Over 80% of lorries kept off roads in Salem and Namakkal districts on Thursday in support of the nation-wide strike against the amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, including the huge fines for violations.
The All India Motor Transport Congress announced the strike to demand withdrawal of the amendments. The State lorry owners association also expressed solidarity with the strike.
The lorries were not operated from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Salem and Namakkal. Vanglee, president of the Namakkal Taluk Lorry Owners’ Association said “The amendments severely hurt businesses. Besides this, the tariffs at toll plazas are being revised twice a year, making it hard to run the business. The governments should take necessary action regarding this or else we would be pushed to indulge in continuous strikes.”
Chennakeshavan, president of Salem District Lorry Owners Association and Managing Committee member of AIMTC, said the huge increase in fine amounts for traffic violations was affecting lorry owners and drivers severely. The 10 % to 15 % increase in toll should be rolled back. “In Salem, close to 85% of the 34,000 lorries kept off the roads. Stocks worth ₹15 crore were stuck at various places in Tamil Nadu and lorry owners faced a loss of close to ₹1.5 crore. Both the State and Central governments should take necessary action on our grievances,” he said.
According to merchants at Leigh Bazaar here, the strike did not severely affect movement of goods, as only Friday and Saturday are market days here.
Over 10,000 lorries in Coimbatore district and over 8,000 in Tiruppur district were not operated during the 12-hour strike.
M. Jebadas, president of Pollachi Lorry Owners Association, said that over 2,000 lorries did not ply in Pollachi. Representatives of the lorry owners’ association told the mediapersons that loss of business due to the strike was nearly ₹ 25 crore in Coimbatore and ₹10 crore in Tiruppur.
In Udhagamandalam over 450 lorry and pick-up truck drivers took part in the strike. Lorry owners’ associations in Coonoor said 250 were involved in the transport of tea to other districts and also Kerala and Karnataka. As a result, over three lakh kg of tea was stuck in the warehouses in Coonoor. No major disruptions in the vegetable supply chain were reported.