Demand for toll-free movement
Indefinite lorry strike from July 20
Bengaluru, July 18: Owners of the commercial goods lorries called for an indefinite strike from July 20 across the country demanding toll-free movement and reduction in insurance premium and bringing diesel under GST.
Speaking to reporters at the Press Club here on Wednesday, Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association president GR Shanmugappa said that despite submitting memorandums to the central government several times seeking fulfillment of their demands, no action was taken. This attitude of the government has forced the lorry owners to call for indefinite strike once again, he said.
The country has total 412 toll-gates and annually, the lorry owners have to pay Rs 1.2 lakh crore as toll fee. They were ready to pay the toll fee, but the payment method should be changed. Around one crore commercial vehicles were passing through toll-gates. They were ready to pay the 50 per cent of the toll fee in advance and they should be given free movement in all toll gates. This would help the government get thousands of crores revenue annually, he said.
If the government imposed just Re 1 cess per litre of diesel of commercial vehicle plying in the country, the government could have collected Rs 13,000 crore and if it was doubled, the cess revenue would be Rs 26,000 crore. With this, the government could make toll-free movement. Normally, the lorries would have to stop at least 15-20 minutes in tollgate. A lorry which travels from Bengaluru to New Delhi has to waste around 14 hours in tollgates due to which, the diesel was being wasted. Around Rs 84,000 crore was being wasted on diesel, vehicle repair and tollgate maintenance, he said.
All associations like Bus Owners Association, Vegetables Transportation Lorry Owners Association and others have extended their support to the indefinite strike. Except the service of essential commodities like medicines and milk, more than 90 lakh lorries in the country and 6 lakh lorries in the state would stay off the roads, he said.
Demands
- Goods vehicles should be made toll-free
- Diesel price should be brought under GST and adopt tri-monthly review system
- TDS should be cancelled and advance payment method should be introduced.
- Problem in the e-way bill system should be sorted out.
- Tourist vehicles and buses should be given national permits.
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Railway track tampered with in Surat district; police suspect sabotage attempt
Surat (PTI): Unidentified persons allegedly tampered with a railway track by removing fish plates and loosening several bolts in an attempt to derail trains in Gujarat's Surat district on Saturday, police said.
The sabotage attempt came to light before a train could pass through the affected track between Kosamba and Kim railway stations as a lineman detected the damage and alerted the railway authorities in the early hours of the day, officials said.
Unidentified persons removed two fish plates that bolted the ends of two rails on the railway track and placed them on the parallel track, Superintendent of Police, Surat (rural), Hitesh Joysar said.
They also loosened some 40-50 bolts, he said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police RR Sarvaiya said a lineman inspecting the track discovered the tampering around 5.30 am and alerted the railway administration.
"Railway engineers and other staff reached the site and repaired the line, and the movement of trains resumed," he said.
Sarvaiya said the railway and local police have launched a probe, and a case is being registered.
Inspector PH Jadeja of Kim police station said it was an attempt to derail the train, and an accident was averted due to the alertness of the railway staff.
The train movement resumed once the damage was fixed, he said.
