The need for sufficient parking space for container lorries serving the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) is once again to the fore, with lorry owners deciding to go on an indefinite strike from Sunday midnight, protesting against the ban on parking of lorries along Container Road, which links National Highway 47 from Kalamassery to the ICTT.
The District Collector had issued an order on July 5, banning parking of lorries along Container Road. He had also ordered that streetlights be put up along the road, and that the local government bodies ensure that they functioned properly.
The Collector had also said that lorries found parked along the road should be penalised and had directed officials to report on the action taken against errant trucks. The ban was issued after Bharat Petroleum Corporation developed a three-acre plot for lorry parking. Up to 75 lorries can be accommodated in the new parking lot.
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Meanwhile, Trade Union Coordination Committee convenor Charles George claimed that there was not enough space for parking all lorries serving the ICTT, and that the Collector’s order had come “all of a sudden”.
He added that around 1,700 lorries would stay off the road during the strike period. He also claimed that it was in July last year that the district administration had promised to provide sufficient space for parking. “The administration had made several promises. However, there is still not enough space for parking lorries,” he added. He recalled that around 300 lorries that were parked along the road after July 5 had been fined ₹1,000 each.
The district administration issued the ban on parking of container lorries following several accidents along Container Road, attributed largely to parking of lorries and detached platforms along the road. The High Court had also intervened in the matter. The district administration said the stakeholders had been told about the need to avoid parking of lorries along the road.
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