‘93 lakh trucks off the road’

Impact may be felt from Monday as supplies dry up

Trucks stationed along the highway in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh on Friday.

Truck operators across the country on Friday began an indefinite strike after the government failed to resolve their issues.

The representatives of the transporters on Thursday met senior Union Ministers in Delhi but no solution could be reached on their multiple demands.

Frequent changes in diesel prices, non-transparent toll policy and high insurance premium are cited as the main reasons for the strike.

‘No assurance’

“The Ministers asked us to call off the strike but they did not take us seriously. There was no assurance to look into our demands. We had no other option but to go on strike,” Abhishek Gupta, Treasurer, Bombay Goods Transport Association (BGTA) said.

Over 5 lakh trucks remained off the road in Mumbai area while transporters plying over 93 lakh trucks across India are participating in the strike, union leaders said.

Some trucks that are carrying containers are still plying for fear of the heavy fine. Once the containers are off-loaded at the port, they would join the strike, transporters said.

The impact is likely to be felt from Monday once supplies start drying up.

The strike will continue for at least 4 days in case the government does not relent, union leaders said. Protests were organised at several places to highlight their demands.

Industry body Assocham said the nationwide strike would cause a loss of ₹20-25,000 crore to the economy. It urged the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) to call it off and amicably resolve the issues.

“The strike will further push up prices of essential items. Already floods have hit many parts of the country and the rise in both wholesale price index (WPI) and the headline consumer price index (CPI) has hit a large number of businesses,” said D.S. Rawat, secretary general, Assocham.

“We at Assocham urge the government’s intervention to speedily resolve issues as transporters have been reeling under the impact of demonetisation, rise in input costs along with fuel prices, high cost of goods and services tax (GST) and are facing a host of other challenges,” he added.