Transporters give a mixed response to strike
We received a strong response in the state. Almost 90% of the vehicles in Maharashtra remained off the road. The transporters’ strike will continue on Saturday too. We are not stopping transport of essential commodities, but operators may choose not to ply vehicles. RAMAN KHOSLA, president in-charge, Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo, Tankers Bus Vahatuk Mahasangh
MUMBAI: The nationwide transporters’ strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which kicked off on Friday, saw a mixed response in Mumbai and Thane.
Supply of essential commodities remained largely unaffected, but office-goers and parents in Mumbai faced inconvenience as several inter-city and school buses participated in the strike.
While goods vehicles will continue the strike, operations of intercity and school buses will resume normally from Saturday. “The buses will start their operation normally from Saturday morning,” said Anil Garg, leader of school bus owners association (SBOA).
AIMTC has called the strike to protest the hike in diesel prices, third-party insurance premium hike, alternative toll collection policy, national permits for passenger vehicles, corruption and harassment on roads. Most transporters, including the Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo Tankers Buses Vahatuk Mahasangh, have backed the strike.
“We received a strong response in Maharashtra. Almost 90% of vehicles remained off the road. The strike will continue Saturday too and we are not stopping essential commodities, but operators may choose not to ply vehicles,” Raman Khosla, president in-charge, Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo, Tankers Bus Vahatuk Mahasangh. “The supply of the essential commodities is normal across the state,” said state transport commissioner Shekhar Channe.
The strike also caused significant distress to parents across the city, as several school buses refused to ply on roads. “My husband had to go late to work as he has to drop our daughter to school. The school had informed us in advance and asked us to make alternative arrangements from dropping and picking our wards,” said Dynanada Naik, a Goregaon resident.
Thane, however, did not experience a problem. “Our school bus operator did not join the strike and all students got to school at the usual time. We did not keep the school closed as attendance was regular,” said Simmi Juneja, principal, DAV school, Thane.
Parents said they were alerted that school buses would ply. “We got a message from the PTA that the school was open, so we got to the bus stop at the usual time. Other schools’ buses were also running,” said Vinny Augustine, parent of a 10-year-old student from Universal High School.
“As a safety measure, we had announced school buses to be off roads. However, not necessarily every operator joins the movement,” said Denise Sequeira, president, SBOA, Thane.
Several truckers kept their trucks and tankers off road, though many tempos and pick-up trucks were seen plying on roads. A pick-up truck owner said he operated his vehicle as several other vehicles were on road. Another trucker said he kept his vehicles off road fearing vandalism.