PATNA: Thousands of truck drivers and cleaners associated with the Bihar Truck Owners’ Association (BTOA) went on a daylong strike and staged a protest at Gardanibagh protest site here on Monday against the state government’s new mining policy, which banned the transportation of sand and stone chips on dumpers and trucks having 14 or more wheels.
The protest was held across the state, but had minimal impact on the transportation of household goods. However, the members of the association claimed that over 5 lakh truck drivers and cleaners joined the strike.
BTOA president Bhanu Shekhar Prasad Singh said all the heavy vehicles, including trucks and lorries, remained off the road. “The representatives of the BTOA submitted a memorandum of our demand to the governor’s office, urging him to intervene in this matter,” he told this newspaper.
The association has also given an ultimatum to the state government to go on indefinite strike from January 4, if the ban was not lifted on the transportation of sand and stone chips on dumpers and trucks having 14 or more wheels.
Singh said, “The truck drivers and cleaners would go on indefinite protest on the lines of farmers’ protests -- ‘ghera dalo, dera dalo’. We will block the district borders and select four protest sites in four different districts of Patna, Muzaffarpur, Ara and Bhagalpur. Not only the drivers, but their family members will also join the strike.”
He added: “Hundreds of truckers would be unemployed because of this new mining policy passed by the state cabinet.”
The state government has banned transportation of sand and stone chips on vehicles having 14 or more wheels under the new mining policy to prevent overloading by freight vehicles on the roads.