Truckers intensify strike in Telangana, AP

Hyderabad/Vijayawada: Truckers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh intensified their strike on the fifth day on Monday, staging protests to press their demands.

The striking truck owners took out rallies, staged sit-ins and even cooked food on highways to draw the government's attention towards their demands.

More than 5 lakh trucks remained off the roads in both states, paralysing the movement of goods.

As the strike began to have an impact on the supply of essential commodities, the transport departments were gearing up to make alternate arrangements, including the use of buses of state-owned road transport corporations.

Transporters across south India were on strike on a call given by South India Motor Transport Association (SIMTA) to press for their demands including withdrawal of increase in the premium for third party insurance, hike in penalty and toll fee.

The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) in Hyderabad has called SIMTA leaders for talks to address the issue relating to insurance.

SIMTA leader and Secretary of Telangana Lorry Owners' Association Durga Prasad said their future course of action would depend on the outcome of the talks with IRDA.

He said they were also waiting for a call from the state government for talks to solve some of the demands at the state level.

Hundreds of trucks remained parked at Auto Nagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The truck owners took out a rally on Monday, causing traffic jam on the highway.

Protests were also held at Siddipet in Telangana and at Nellore, West Godavari, Krishna and other districts in Andhra Pradesh.

In a novel protest, truck owners cooked food on a highway in West Godavari district. They demanded immediate steps by government to address their problems.

The transport department officials in both the states hope that the strike would end soon as the talks were initiated at the national level and IRDA was also taking steps to address the insurance-related issues.