Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Jul 1: Majority of the state's transport organizations have lent their support to the indefinite truckers stir, planned to be observed by truck owners from all over the state, from Tuesday July 2. The decision follows the verdict of a High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Venugopal Gowda which is hearing a public interest petition in the matter, giving a final extension of three months for the commercial vehicles in the state to fix speed governors before hitting the road. New vehicles have already been asked to be fitted with speed governors before registration.

Nearly 50,000 trucks will keep off the roads from Tuesday in the state. The organizations have assured however, that vehicles carrying essential commodities like milk, water, vegetables etc., are exempted from the strike call, in order not to create problems for the common people.

The truckers are also up in arms against the state's practice of levying sales tax on diesel, which they are demanding to be replaced with value-added tax. Representative of truckers’ organizations B V Narayanappa said on Monday June 30, that the diesel rates widely differ from state to state because of not following uniform procedures. In Tamil Nadu, diesel costs two rupees less than in Karnataka, he explained.

He also said that the trucks are burdened with toll tax that works out to about Rs 2.40 per km now, slowly creeping up over the years. The transporters feel that this should go down with the increase in number of vehicles, he added.