Starvation looms large over jobless youths, who purchased trucks for coal transportation of Karnataka Emta Coal Mine Chandrapur as the company hands over coal transportation to an outsider forcing local truckers to jam wheels & bring coal transportation to grinding halt
Nagpur News: The transportation of coal has come to a grinding standstill as the strike by local Truck Transport Association entered third day. The Truck Transport Association is protesting against the decision of Karnataka Emta Coal Mine Limited, Chandrapur, to hand over responsibility of coal transportation to other truck transport company.
The local Truck Transport Association has demanded that the new truck transport companies should not be given coal transportation work as they have been carrying the coal transport business of the Karnataka Emta Coal Mine Limited, Chandrapur since past few years. It may be recalled the truck transporters are on strike since Sunday.
The President of Bhadrawati Truck Transporters Association Prashant Thakur and Secretary Prashant Karekar have warned that until the management of of Karnataka Emta Coal Mine Limited resolves the issue amicably their strike would continue and no coal would be transported by the Association members.
According to reports, Karnataka Emta Coal Mine Limited has acquired land of farmers for coal mining. The project-affected youths were deprived of jobs in the coal mines of the company. The youth, however, as last hope of earning considerable money, took loans from various banks and purchased vehicles in order to transport coal from Karnataka Emta coalmines. However, the company handed over the coal transportation to a new transporter thus creating a problem in great proportion for the local transporters as unemployment stares their faces.
About 50 project-hit youths have purchased 12 or 10-wheel Hyva trucks by way of loans from banks, and, each truck costs between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh. They have to pay Rs 70,000 as monthly installment to the banks against the loans. The youths could not carry any considerable transport work from June 2012 to March 2013 following very low production of coal from the company’s coalmines. Now, the starvation looms large over these youths.
During the period of past 12 months, about 1.50 lakh trips of coal transportation were carried out by the truckers which approximately transported 23.76 lakh metric tons of coal from one place to other. However, out of 100 Hyva trucks the project-hit youths possess, only 50-55 truck owners received the contract for transporting coal. Now, the situation has come to such a pass that only 2 or 3 trips are undertaken due to very low production of coal in the company’s mines. And, the bad roads, too, are adding woes to the already troubled these truck owners.
A member of the of Bhadrawati Truck Transporters Association Sikender Sheikh said that the local transporters helped Karnataka Emta Coal Mine Limited during their bad to worse conditions of any nature. Now, at the situation of plenty, the company has allotted the work of coal transportation to a new transporter leaving the old transporters to lick the coal dust.
The Truck Transporters Association has warned the company to give priority to local coal transporters for coal transportation and dump the new transporter or face an intense protest of which the consequences would be of gigantic proportions the company will find out of its hands.
