Are transporters pushing the Government to a corner?

Are transporters pushing the Government to a corner?

Staff Reporter

They want blanket permission for sand excavation and stone quarrying

Sand trucks not to be stopped en route to Bangalore

Trucks carrying construction material stay off the road on Sunday

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

No work: Trucks laden with construction material stationed at a parking lot in Srigandhada Kaval, off Magadi Road-ORR Junction in Bangalore on Sunday following the strike by construction material transporters.

BANGALORE: “The lawmakers should have asked us (transporters and miners) before framing the laws on prohibiting mining in forest areas,” remarked one of the office-bearers of transporters’ association at the meeting convened by Transport Minister R. Ashok here on Saturday to thrash out problems of construction material transporters.

This response came when Mr. Ashok said the Government cannot allow stone quarrying in and around Tippagondanahalli reservoir as well as forest areas. The transporters and miners appear to be for a free-for-all mining policy.

The construction material transporters’ strike from Saturday midnight was called in protest against the alleged harassment of sand lorry operators by officials of various departments. Responding to this, Mr. Ashok agreed that sand trucks would not be stopped en route to Bangalore by any official and the transporters will have to pay Rs. 300 royalty to the Government for a truckload of sand.
Curious turn

However, the transporters and miners wanted blanket permission for sand mining, Mr. Ashok told The Hindu. “They said transporters should not be asked from where they were lifting the sand and be given a freeway to Bangalore, which was not acceptable to the Government,” he said. Even as the transporters’ main demand of stopping harassment was accepted by the Government, the stone miners’ association representatives put forth their demand for hassle-free stone quarrying. This issue was not in the memorandum submitted by the transporters to the Government. One of the representatives even verbally abused a senior official from the Department of Mines and Geology, which prompted Mr. Ashok to show him the door. Even after their main demand was met, the transporters under the Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents’ Association termed the talks a failure and went ahead with the strike.
No notice

A senior Government official said the truckers had not served prior notice to the Government on the strike and felt that those supporting the strike appeared to coerce the Government to accept their demands. Another official said transporters, particularly those bringing construction material to the city, had repeatedly been indulging in strikes. This not only brought the construction industry to a halt, but also had been affecting livelihood of thousands of unorganised workers who are engaged in the construction work.
Strike total

Meanwhile, responding to the strike call given by the Federation and other associations concerned with stone mining, trucks carrying construction material remained off the roads in the city on Sunday.

While the Banashankari sand truck parking area wore a deserted look, the one near Srigandhada Kaval off Magadi Road-ORR Junction and Bellary Road-ORR Junction near Hebbal saw hundreds of sand-laden trucks being parked on the parking lots and on the ring roads.

The strike will continue till all the demands are met by the Government, said a representative of the Federation on Sunday.
Faction keeps off

A faction of the Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owner’s Association, led by B. Channa Reddy, has said that it would not participate in the lorry strike. In a release, Mr. Reddy said that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, in a meeting held on August 25, directed the officials of departments concerned to take steps to issue permits for transportation of sand and other construction materials.

The federation felt that the talks were incomplete and time should be given to Government to study the demands and hence, decided not to participate in the strike.