The decision was taken in a meeting of the drivers called by the Union after discussing the increasing harassments and torture meted out to the drivers and handymen of Manipur on the NH-29.
The union had made it clear that no truck from Manipur would ply along the NH 29 though government was requisitioning vehicles to procure FCI quotas by using the NH 29 and which compelled drivers to ply on the route, AMT & WU general secretary Kullamani said after the meeting today.
He said that truckers had been bearing the burden of innumerable “taxes” imposed by the undergrounds along the NH 29 of Manipur and Nagaland section and now even undergrounds in Assam have started taxing Manipur vehicles.
The 50-km stretch of NH 39 within the forest of Karbi Anglong has become another hazardous point for the drivers. He referred to the recent attacks on Imphal bound gas bullet tankers and passenger bus at Deopani in Karbi Anglong by cadres of Karbi People Liberation Tigers (KPLT).
He also recalled the kidnapping of two drivers and a handyman after the gas bullet tankers were hijacked and victims harassed and tortured during captivity. “This was not the first case of torture and taking of lives of drivers and handymen on NH 39”, he said.
He also clarified that the union will not take any responsibility for any untoward incidents on trucks plying on NH-29 defying the decision.
He also mentioned an earlier decision of the Transporters’ and Drivers’ Council (TDC), an apex body, which resolved not to ply along NH-29.
~ NP
