Container carriers serving the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam suspended services from Saturday evening following police action against lorries parked along Container Road.
Container Monitoring Committee convener Charles George said lorries were parked along the road on Saturday as there was not enough space in the parking areas, and that the police had swung into action fining and pasting stickers on vehicles.
Container owners and workers had earlier threatened to go on an indefinite strike from August 16 if their demand for sufficient parking space for carriers was not met by the authorities. They said that the agitation was aimed to press their demand for sufficient parking space and competent rates for parking of lorries serving the ICTT.
The decision of the committee comes in the wake of the Kerala High Court order last Tuesday which said that the State government should take stringent action against those parking lorries along Container Road linking Kalamassery and the ICTT.
Joy K.J., convenor of the forum for protest action, said the authorities should ensure that there was enough space for parking lorries.
While around 2,000 lorries need space for parking, especially during weekends, there is space only for around 500 now, he added.
P.L. Abhilash, who is also part of the forum, said the port authorities and other stakeholders had not taken the lorry operators’ plea into consideration. The demand for sufficient parking space has been in existence since 2011 when the ICTT was inaugurated, he added.
Mr. Charles George, who is also the convenor of the Trade Union Coordination Committee welcomed the court verdict but maintained that there was space for only 500 carriers in the allotted parking areas.
Mr. Abhilash said trailer owners and workers had gone on strike seven times in the past demanding sufficient parking space, but the authorities had been indifferent to their demand.
The High Court had intervened in the matter owing to the rising number of accidents on Container Road.