CHENNAI: The three-day-old strike by truckers in six States is all set to snowball into a nationwide stir. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) will be holding a meeting with its member associations in New Delhi on Monday afternoon to decide on the future course of action. The AIMTC representatives from east, west, north and south zones will participate in the meeting. After getting the consent of the members, AIMTC’s high committee comprising G K Shanmugappa, Gurinder Pal Singh and S K Mittal will formally make an announcement about the nationwide lorry strike.“Lorries have been off the road in six States for the last three days. So far, there is no positive sign from the government regarding our demands. So, we have planned to intensify the strike. It will be taken to all India level so that the authorities will respond,” said AIMTC president Shanmugappa.Sources said the date for launching the nationwide strike will be announced by the AIMTC soon. It will give at least one week for all the lorry owners to prepare for the strike. If the nationwide strike is launched, around 65 lakh lorries are likely to go off the road all over India.According to Shanmugappa, 26 lakh trucks are participating in the strike in the southern states. The governments have suffered a loss to the tune of `1,600 crore. The AIMTC has allowed the lorries that transport essential commodities, including milk, medicines and vegetables, to ply.“We allowed the lorries that transport essential commodities as our aim is to observe strike without putting the general public to much hardship. Hence, vegetables supply to the Koyambedu market has not been affected,” he added.Koyambedu Market Vegetable Merchants’ Association Secretary S Chandran agreed that the vegetable supply to the Koyambedu market has not come down much, despite the strike. “We thought the vegetable supply from the neighbouring states will come down by 50 per cent. But, only 10 per cent of the supply has been affected. The wholesale prices of the vegetables have been the same as they were before the strike.”Chandran, however, said the merchants in the districts who buy vegetables from the Koyambedu market have reduced their quantum of purchase, which has brought down business by about 30 per cent.A few associations abstaining from the strike will be participating, if the strike becomes a nationwide one. “If the strike is taken to all India level, we will participate. But we need a few days time to prepare for it,” said R Sugumaran, President of Confederation of Surface Transport, Tamil Nadu. The confederation’s TN wing has three lakh lorries in its fold.TN Sand Lorry Owners’ Federation president S Yuvaraj echoed the opinion.
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