26 lakh lorries to go off roads

NAMAKKAL: Over 26 lakh lorries would go off the road from Thursday and there would be no going back till the Centre accepts the truckers’ demands, said K Nallathampi, president of the Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Federation, on Wednesday.“The strike will be observed in six states, including TN, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Nearly 26 lakh lorries in all six states will go off the road, including 41,000 in Namakkal,” he told Express. Nallathampi urged the Centre to implement the agreement signed in December 2010 on toll charges being collected on national highways.“The State should prevail upon the Centre to agree to our demands,” he said.When asked if the truckers would go in for a compromise, he replied that two rounds of talks held with the officials of the Union ministry of road transport had not borned any result.“We will not go back unless and until our demand is accepted by the Centre,” Nallathampi asserted.He warned that if the Centre did not accept their demands, the All India Motor Transport Congress would call for a nation-wide strike.The State and the Centre would incur a loss of `2,500 crore daily and truckers, booking agents and entrepreneurs would lose `1000 crore, he pointed out. Meanwhile, the TN Sand Lorry Owners’ Federation said it backed the strike.  The Southern Region Bulk LPG Transporters Association (SRBLPGTA) has decided to extend moral support to the strike called by the South Zone Transporters’ Welfare Association.  N R Karthick, secretary of the SRBLPGTA told, “Since the oil companies provide charges in accordance with the fluctuation in fuel prices, LPG transporters were not affected by the diesel price hike. So we have decided not to join the strike”.