Transport sector in ruins as economy’s wheels stop moving

lalmohan.patnaik | TNN | Apr 14, 2020, 04:16 IST

Cuttack: The livelihood of more than 1.62 lakh truckers across the state is in peril due to the lockdown.
Odisha State Truck Owners Federation (OSTOF) general secretary Rabi Narayan Satpathy told TOI on Monday that the outbreak of coronavirus and the resultant countrywide lockdown to contain its spread had led to temporary job loss for over 90 per cent of about 1.8 lakh truckers for more than two weeks now.
“Only about 10,000 to 15,000 trucks are engaged in local operations involving transportation of essential commodities from rakes in railway goods sheds in different parts of the state and also in the colliery areas,” said Satpathy, who is also vice-president of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).
Around 36 lakh people in the state are directly or indirectly dependent on the transport sector t for livelihood.
Satpathy said the average daily loss suffered by truck owners in the state is estimated to be more than Rs 40 crore and the situation is becoming more alarming every day. He said as the wheels had stopped, there is no financial inflow and existing finance with transport operators, both small and big, is depleting fast.
The OSTOF, which is the apex body in the state for transporters, representing about 1.8 lakh truckers, expressed apprehension that “returning of normalcy for truck owners will be difficult without working capital loan”.
The situation is so grim that OSTOF has already urged the State Transport Authority (STA) “to kindly waive the road tax for the period from April to June and extend the validity permit and fitness certificate for at least three months”.
“As both inter-state and intra-state movements have been paralysed, truck owners are unable to pay their road taxes. This apart, we are also unable to pay the permit and fitness fees,” the OSTOF general secretary said in a representation submitted to the transport commissioner recently.