Truck operators defer protest

Truck operators who had planned to avoid using the shortest route between Chennai and Bangalore from June 20 in order register their protest against the government's plan to convert part of the route in to a toll road have deferred their protest.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had planned to convert National Highway 7 into a toll road effective today. A Chennai-based fleet operator said truckers continued to use NH 7 today because NHAI did not begin collecting toll.

The operator, however, added that the situation was very fluid. The road transport industry had no idea about the date on which NHAI planned to introduce toll on NH 7, he said.

NH 7 plays a critical role in determining the price of vegetables, particularly, in Chennai. The route links Bangalore to Hosur, and eventually Chennai.

According to road transport industry sources, most of the vegetables that reached Chennai's wholesale market came from the region around Hosur.

If truck operators were to avoid using the Hosur route to bring goods to Chennai, they would have to use a roundabout route through Andhra Pradesh.

Industry sources said if the alternative were to be used, the higher operating expenses would have to soon show up in the prices of goods transported.

The threat to boycott NH 7 once it was converted into a toll road was articulated last week at a press conference by The All India Motor Transport Congress' (AIMTC's) southern unit.

AIMTC's problem stems from the government's revenue raising efforts to develop and maintain highways. A Shanmugappa, vice- president of AIMTC's south zone chapter, claimed that the central government had raised Rs 64,515 crore over the last few years through the cess that has been imposed on diesel and petrol.

Shanmugappa claimed that the resources raised through cess were used to renovate roads, some of which subsequently ended up as toll roads. He said that it was unfair to ask the road transport industry to pay repeatedly for the upgrade work.