Sand transporters' stir hits construction

With the strike by the lorry owners’ association continuing for almost a week, the stir is beginning to threaten ongoing construction works, by both private and government bodies, in the City.

Although many contractors are resorting to stocking sand, sources say that this hoarding technique may not help them for more than two to three days. 

The Federation of the Karnataka Lorry Owners’ Association (FOKLOA) went on an indefinite strike on Saturday alleging that the sand policy announced by the State government does not mention anything about the transportation of sand and will not help in curbing the rampant illegal transportation of sand.

President of  FOKLOA, G R Shanmugappa said: “The government harasses lorry drivers by demanding bribes, falsely implicating them in criminal cases and imposing penalties.

 Although there are more than 15,000 trucks in the State, only 1,000 of them have been given permit to transport sand.”

Shanmugappa further said that the government has neither auctioned sand nor provided it. He alleged that the police had booked 600 cases of illegal sand mining against lorry owners and arrested 242 lorry drivers for illegal transportation. 

He added that the association will continue its protest until the government increases the number of transportaion permits from 300 to 3,000 truck loads Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said that the tunnelling work of the Metro at some places may be affected if the strike continued.