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Truckers’ strike hits silk city labourers hard

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Porters sit idle as truckers strike disrupted supply of goods at Bada Bazar in Berhampur on Friday. —

BERHAMPUR: The truckers’ strike and scarcity of diesel has indirectly affected the livelihood of over 8,000 labourers who are dependent on Bada Bazar in the city, the largest wholesale market in south Orissa.

They are the trolley-rickshaw pullers and porters, who work in this wholesale market. Most of them were without any job on Friday. C. Ravindranath, president of the Ganjam Chamber of Commerce, said this large labour force of the city would be without income till ample number of trucks carrying goods reaches the wholesale market.

All these porters and trolley rickshaw pullers are either work independently or are employed by wholesalers on daily basis.

Most of these porters sat waiting for entry of trucks into the market for the whole day. But except for a few trucks coming from other parts of Orissa no major goods carrying trucks reached the market.

Mr Ravindranath said although the market had become standstill without flow of goods yet there was no scarcity of food items in the city for the time being. But he added that the markets that were dependent on this wholesale market would surely be affected directly and indirectly.

Berhampur Sub-Collector Dhananjay Swain also convened an emergency meeting of the traders.

The wholesalers of potato and onion were directed to see to it that the price of onion did not exceed Rs. 20 per kg in the retail market in the city.

Similarly the retail price of potato was also directed to be kept below Rs. 7 . The scarcity of petrol was quite evident in the city. Suddenly people became conscious and started using vehicles scarcely. They preferred to opt for walking or cycle to save petrol in their vehicles.

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