JOIN USSand transporters' strike begins
President of FKSLOAA G R Shanmugappa said the strike has been called for as sand mining permits that expired on October 30 were not being renewed and harassment from officials had not ceased.
“As many as 32,000 trucks that transport construction materials have stopped plying, from Monday midnight,” he said.
However, Transport Minister R Ashok had said on Sunday that the government would not succumb to the pressure tactics of the truck owners and there was no point in holding talks with them.
“The State government has already held 16 rounds of talks with truck owners and yet they have been calling for strikes based on their whims and fancies. Many of them have indulged in illegal sand mining by violating all environmental norms,” Ashok had said.
According to sources, elected representatives and farmers from Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Chamarajanagar districts have been opposing sand extraction on the grounds that it has caused damage to their farm lands, bridges and roads.
With allegations that earthmovers were being used to extract sand, the government has allowed sand extraction only under certain conditions.