Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Oct 18: As the short respite of one month provided by the Supreme Court which had given a month's time for the commercial vehicles in the state to fit speed governors draws closer, the truck owners in the state have again threatened to launch an indefinite strike from October 30 onwards, in protest against the government order dated September 16, making it mandatory for them to fit speed governors.

As per the Supreme Court order, all the commercial vehicles in the state must have been fitted with speed governors. The union government, which was expected to formulate a uniform policy all over the country to obviate difficulties faced by the truckers in different states, has not done anything on the issue.

The truckers say, that the government need not have issued the said order. They allege, that the mileage of their vehicles will drastically come down once the speed governors are fitted. The commercial vehicle owners also argue, the speed limit of 60 kms fixed by the state government is in violation of the speed limit of 90 kms fixed by the union government for national highways. They also say, that the records show that the accident rate has not come down in respect of vehicles, after they were fittd with speed governors.

If the stike becomes a reality, supply of diesel, petrol, milk, foodgrains, vegetables, milk etc., will be hit and vehicles without speed governors will be stopped at the state border. The stalemate would be hard to crack.

Lorry Owners Federation president G R Shanmugappa has urged the government to relax the norms and allow the commercial vehicles to ply without speed governors. However, as the state government is bound by the high court decision and as the union government has not done anything to help it out of the situation, the strike will take place unless some development takes place before the end of this month.