Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jun 20: Dakshina Kannada Youth Congress Committee has urged the district administration to ban movement of ore-laden trucks in the coastal area, to stop the national highways which are the lifelines of the twin-districts, from turning into wretched stretches, at least during the monsoon months.
The national highway was repaired recently after the people were put through sufferings for a couple of years and a sustained agitation against the movement of ore trucks. The ore trucks that carry heavier than normal loads have started pounding the highways again and the roads and bridges, which had turned brittle because of them in the past, have started breaking down once again. The ore trucks are getting involved in a number of accidents on a daily basis. Hence, there is a need to regulate movement of ore trucks which have been spoiling the atmosphere of the districts and turning road use into nightmares, a Congress Party delegation which met the district deputy commissioner V Ponnuraj on Friday June 19, demanded.
The delegation comprised of former youth Congress president Bondala Jagannath Shetty, current president Arun Coelho and several other office bearers. It is learnt, the deputy commissioners of both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have urged the government to rein in the movement of the ore-trucks because of the havoc they have been causing.
In a curious development, representatives of Karnataka Truck Owners Associations submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Udupi district on Monday last, demanding for the closure of the Ottinene weigh bridge being at the district border being managed by the district administration, as it has been causing traffic chaos rather than serving the purpose of regulating movement of overloaded trucks. "A few overloaded trucks are being let off after the drivers bribe teams of local youths and way bridge staff, while others that follow the norms, are made to face unnecessary harassment. As hundreds of trucks are made to wait for long and released at a time from Ottinene, traffic snarls are created. If the administration wants to maintain the bridge, the revenue officials manning the weigh bridge should be replaced by the officials of the mines and geology department and the motor transport department, “they demanded.
The people everywhere, have been lamenting about the destructive influence of the ore trucks and are hoping against hope that their bad experiences of the past in which they had to struggle in and out of huge pot holes created by the ore trucks, will not repeat again. The Ottinene way bridge, set up to regulate the movement of ore trucks has been more in the controversy than controlling the traffic. The ore trucks are not using the Roll-in Roll-out (RoRo) services of the railways that would have spared the roads of the damages, perhaps because of the fear that the actual weight being carried by them would be recorded there.
It is well known that the royalty collection through the ore mines have not been good, as proper accounting is not in place. The damage to bridges, roads and traffic chaos created by the ore trucks besides causing loss of innumerable lives are too huge a price to pay, as compared to the meager royalty received by the state. The ore trucks seem to benefit only a few, the miners, transporters and politicians at the expense of the general public. However, the agitation against the ore trucks has always been feeble and divided on political lines. There is a need for the people from all walks of life, to come together by overlooking their individual affiliations, to generate a crescendo against the movement of the ore trucks on roads, so that their voices are heard loud and clear by the powers that be.