Lorries stay off the road in delta districts, farmers worried about disruption in transportation of paddy

Lorry strike in Tamil Nadu's delta districts halts transport due to rising fitness certificate renewal costs.

Lorries remained off the road in the delta districts on Monday following the strike call given by the State Lorry Owners Federation-Tamil Nadu (SLOFT).

Inquiries reveal that the federation called for the strike, to begin with in delta districts on Monday, as its plea to the State government to fix an affordable fitness certificate renewal charges, which was increased by the Union Government last year, failed to evoke a favourable response.

As the movement of lorries in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts had come to a grinding halt, wherein nearly two-thirds of the total number of around 10,000 lorries deployed for the transportation of paddy from the direct purchase centres to the various godowns in delta districts were registered in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts, the impact of the strike on movement of paddy in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts could be felt in the days to come, sources said.

The lorry owners, who have leased out their vehicles for transportation of paddy to the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation paddy transport contractors, said they were not earning any profit by letting out their vehicles to the TNCSC contractors.

The hire charges offered by the middlemen, on most occasions, were enough to meet only the operational costs. Such being the case, the steep hike in FC charges came as a bolt from the blue, sources added.

Lorry owners in Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, and parts of Cuddalore districts went on strike on Monday demanding a reduction in the steep hike in fees for renewal of vehicle fitness certificates (FC), raising concerns over possible accumulation of paddy bags during the ongoing samba harvest season.