Centre’s nod to ply a relief for truckers stuck for days

Joy Sengupta | TNN | Updated: Apr 16, 2020, 06:57 IST

Abdul, 19, from Madhya Pradesh, cooks food in a truck parked on LBS Marg in Mumbai. Abdul and his elder brother have lived in the truck since the lockdown begun

Abdul, 19, from Madhya Pradesh, cooks food in a truck parked on LBS Marg in Mumbai. Abdul and his elder brothe...Read More

PUNE: With the Centre allowing plying of trucks carrying essential and non-essential items or moving empty from April 20, transporters are a bit relieved.
Baba Shinde, president of the Maharashtra State Vahan Chalak Malak Pratinidhi Sanghatna and a member of the All India Motor Transport Congress, said, “It is a good news for the truck drivers and transporters, who can now expect business. Close to 10 lakh trucks were stranded at different checkpoints and industrial areas of Maharashtra .The truckers were in a trouble with al roadside eateries remaining closed.”
All India Motor Transport Congress president Kulktran Singh Atwal had earlier said many truck drivers were deserting the vehicles with the commodities and walking back home.
Shinde said opening of the eateries and vehicle repair and spare shops would be a bg help.
Vijay Kumar Ram, one of the thousands of truck drivers stranded by the lockdown, said, “We have suffered for three weeks, work is at a standstill, we eat what we cook and stay in our vehicles on the highway.”
Ram drives a trailer and with nine others, all of whom ply trailers for a Mumbai transport firm, is stuck on a highway near Navsari in Gujarat. Speaking to TOI on phone, Ram said he missed his family in Bihar and was keen to return home, but felt no bitterness for the government’s decision.
Said Abhishek Gupta, who owns a transport firm, “Some days back, the truckers ere struggling to get water to drink. Even petrol pump dealers did not allow them to use their tap fearing infection.”
(With inputs from Somit Sen in Mumbai)