Trucks to go off roads from Feb 22

The Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association on Monday announced that over seven lakh trucks will go off the roads indefinitely from February 22 midnight in protest against the Karnataka High Court order that makes it mandatory for all public transport vehicles to install speed governors by June 30.

Speaking to Business Standard, association secretary B V Narayanappa said truckers from the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry will also participate in the strike along with the owners of taxies and maxicabs.

"When the rule has not been implemented in other states, why should it be thrust upon public transport vehicles here,'' Narayanappa asked. However, vehicles transporting essential commodities will not be participating in the strike, he added.

The High Court had come down heavily on the state government recently for failing to rein in the truckers over the issue. In fact, the state had said January 1, 2008 as cut-off date for installation of speed governors, but was forced to postpone it following pressure from the truckers.

Though the high court had maintained that speed governors increase safety levels, the association members allege that the rule was first proposed by bureaucrats to help manufacturers of speed governors to boost their sales.