The Hindu : Karnataka News : Speed governor mandate discriminatory: lorry owners

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Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Speed governor mandate discriminatory: lorry owners

Staff Correspondent

‘Extend rule to whole country or else scrap it’

Anchored: Lorries parked on National Highway 4 as part of the State-wide strike in Chitradurga on Monday.

Chitradurga: Joining the State-wide strike called by the State Lorry Owners’ Association, opposing the installation of speed governors, a large number of lorries remained off the road on National Highway 4 here on Monday.

Several district-level members of the association led by district honorary president M.V. Eshwarappa converged on National Highway 4 to stop lorries from travelling further.

Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, Mr. Eshwarappa said the lorry owners were not interested in resorting to agitations, but were being forced to do so following inconclusive discussions with the Government.

He said the association had been demanding that the order directing installation of speed governors be withdrawn, since it was being implemented only in Karnataka. For long, lorry owners’ had been demanding that the Government withdraw the directive on various contentious grounds. They say that the speed governor costs anywhere between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000, which had to be paid for by the vehicle owner. The installation also restricts the maximum speed of the vehicle to 60 km per hour, which they felt was unreasonable while driving on highways.

“We are asking the Government to either mandate the installation of speed governors across the country or scrap it. It clearly discriminates against those owing lorries in the State,” he said.

Meeting

Mr. Eshwarappa said the association had held a meeting with the Chief Secretary of the State, who had promised them that the directive would be held in abeyance till a final decision was taken. But, transport officials were not ready to issue the Fitness Certificate (FC) to new lorries, stating that they had not received such written orders. As the Government did not seem serious on the issue, we had decided to strike work,” he said. He said the State had nearly three lakh lorries and Chitradurga district had more than 2,000 lorries registered. More than 18,000 new lorries were awaiting fitness certificates, he added.

“The Government would lose over Rs. 10 crore a day if the strike continues. In the interest of the people, lorries carrying essential items such as milk, liquefied petroleum gas and newspapers have been exempted from the strike,” he said.

From the midnight of Monday, the Bus Owners’ Association would also be joining the strike, Mr. Eshwarappa added.

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