Truckers from across the country have decided to stop operations to Kerala from April 1, condemning the State government for not fulfilling their demands at the Walayar check-post.
The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) president, Bhim Wadhwa, made the announcement at a meeting of AIMTC, representatives of a joint action committee of truckers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala and Coimbatore Lorry Owners’ Association here on Monday.
It took about 10 to 20 hours for a truck to cross the check-post while the total time taken to reach Palakkad from Coimbatore was only about an hour. The truckers also alleged that they were forced to waste time and money at the check-post.
Pressing for speedy clearance of trucks and basic amenities, the truckers had been submitting representations to the Kerala government for many years in vain, Mr. Wadhwa said.
Their other demands include increasing number of checking counters at the check-post to 10, allocating 30 acres of land to establish an integrated check-post at Walayar and basic amenities for truck drivers and crew at the check-post. They also sought a green channel to check vehicles carrying vegetables and other materials so that they can be cleared in less than 10 minutes. The AIMTC had announced an indefinite strike on July 22, 2013, but it was called off on the Kerala Chief Minister’s assurance that the government would fulfil the truckers’ demands, Mr. Wadhwa said, making it clear that this time they would call off the strike only after the demands were met.
The general secretary of the South Zone Motor Transporters Welfare Association, G.R. Shanmugappa, said that about 2,500 trucks carry essential commodities and materials worth Rs. 500 crore to Kerala by road every day. He claimed that this includes about 400 truckloads of rice, an equal number of loads of vegetables, over 150 tonnes of wheat, one crore eggs and one lakh chicken.
“There are 10 major routes through which these commodities reach Kerala through Tamil Nadu (nine) and Karnataka (one),” he said, adding that Walayar check-post was the most important of them . Mr. Shanmugappa said that trucks would not operate on any of these routes.
Condemn Kerala govt. for not fulfilling their demands
