Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Traders demand relaxation of ban on entry of heavy vehicles

GULBARGA: The ban imposed on movement of heavy vehicles, particularly trucks, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Gulbarga city has had an impact on different sections of society. While the ban has come as a welcome relief for road users in the main market area, traders are feeling the pinch and demanding relaxation of the ban during daytime.

The ban, imposed by the district administration a month ago to regulate vehicular traffic and to ease congestion on the already narrow roads in the city, has had the desired impact in the wholesale and retail market area. However, the worst hit after the imposition of the ban are traders, who all these years had a free run with the authorities turning blind eye to erratic parking of trucks on the narrow roads in Kirana Bazaar which houses outlets of retail and wholesale merchants. The Grains and Seeds Merchants Association, which has been in the forefront demanding relaxation of the ban, wants the district administration to allow trucks to enter the city for at least three hours in the afternoon. This, the association says, will help traders to unload and load the goods.

“The ban on movement of trucks has hit us badly. Our business hours now extend beyond midnight every day since the goods-laden trucks are allowed to enter the city only after 10 p.m.,” said president of the association Shivaraj Nigudgi and secretary Subhaschandra Wali.

“The hamalis (coolies) demand more money to unload and load goods during night, and most of them do not like to work in the night. The increase in the cost of handling the goods will have to be added to the cost of the commodity, and this will lead to inflation,” Dr. Wali told The Hindu.

However, for people like Mallinath Garampalli, an autorickshaw driver, and Shambunath Guledgud, who works in a cooperative bank, the absence of trucks on the roads during daytime is a welcome relief. “Earlier we had to zigzag through the narrow roads on which trucks used to be parked haphazardly, particularly in the Kirana Bazaar, but now there are no trucks on these roads,” they say.

The ban has also affected construction activities as sand-laden trucks are not being allowed to enter the city between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Tractor trailers are now being used to transport sand here. Automobile dealers are also hit by the ban. They are now working extra hours during night to unload vehicles from the trucks which come from production centres in north Indian States.

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