Himachal News: Truck and bus operators on strike in Himachal, petrol-diesel crisis, cement supply stopped
Drivers Strike in Himachal Pradesh: About ten thousand eight hundred truck operators of all the major cement companies of Himachal Pradesh, ACC Cement, Ambuja Cement as well as UltraTech Cement, have been on strike the whole day. Truck operators are going to hold a massive protest against the Narendra Modi government at the Center by blocking the roads till Wednesday, January 3. Due to the massive strike by truck operators, the supply of cement from entire Himachal Pradesh has completely stopped.
Truck and bus operators on strike, petrol and diesel crisis - Photo: Diary Times
A strike has been started by truck as well as bus operators in entire Himachal Pradesh against the complete amendment made in the Motor Vehicles Act regarding hit and run cases. More than ten thousand eight hundred truck operators of the three major cement companies of Himachal Pradesh, ACC Cement, Ambuja Cement and UltraTech Cement, have been on strike the whole day. A complete strike of trucks and buses will be held till January 3 to protest against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Due to the massive strike by truck operators, the supply of cement has completely stopped. On the other hand, truck and bus operators of Sirmaur and Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh have also stopped all their more than four hundred and fifty buses in a fierce protest. The routes of 350 buses in Bilaspur district and 169 buses in Sirmaur district have been completely affected. In Kala Amb, the industrial area of Sirmaur district, the wheels of more than five hundred trucks have completely stopped. Due to the severe strike which has been going on continuously for three days in the whole of India, there has been a shortage of diesel and petrol as well as cooking gas in Himachal Pradesh.
Long queues formed to get petrol and diesel –
Due to lack of oil supply, long queues are forming at petrol pumps across the country to get diesel and petrol. Tourists who have come to visit Himachal Pradesh from outside states have also stopped getting petrol and diesel to return home. Due to shortage of oil stock, availability of petrol and diesel at petrol pumps has completely stopped. There is a shortage of petrol and diesel even in the bus depots of Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC). There is only two hours of stock left in many bus depots of Himachal Pradesh. If petrol and diesel are not supplied in a day or two, then all the buses of Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will be forced to park in the depot. Due to acute shortage of petrol and diesel, Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) is clubbing all important routes from Tuesday. Due to which, due to shortage of petrol and diesel, now only one HRTC bus is being run on that route on which earlier two HRTC buses were running.
Petrol and diesel run out at nine petrol pumps in Himachal Pradesh –
Due to non-supply of petrol and diesel for three consecutive days, nine out of twelve petrol pumps in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, have run out of petrol and diesel. Now only emergency ambulances and VIP vehicles of Himachal Pradesh government have been allowed to provide petrol and diesel. On Monday, Rs 200 per liter petrol and diesel was provided to scooter drivers and Rs 500 per liter to all other vehicles.
There is a shortage of petrol and diesel at fifty-five percent petrol pumps in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh.
The closure of petrol pumps is having the maximum impact in BBN. Ninety percent of petrol has been exhausted in BBN on the very first day of the strike. Eighty percent of petrol in Solan district will be completely empty on Tuesday. The supply of cement has completely stopped in Darlaghat and Baga. Nearly seven thousand trucks have been affected in Darlaghat and Baga unions. In Chamba district, instead of one thousand rupees, petrol and diesel are available for five hundred rupees and instead of five hundred rupees, petrol and diesel are available for only two hundred rupees. The supply of domestic gas cylinders has not been affected during the strike. Reduction in petrol and diesel is being done in many petrol pumps of Mandi district. But due to non-operation of private buses, the problems faced by bus passengers have increased once again.
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Huge crowd at all petrol pumps of Himachal Pradesh –
There is a huge crowd at all the petrol stations in Kangra district on Monday to fill petrol and diesel. Due to huge number of long queues, a traffic jam has arisen. Petrol and diesel worth more than Rs 500 is being provided at Raja Ka Talab Petrol Pump in Kangra district. Due to which people are seen getting into conflict with petrol pump personnel. The supply of sand and gravel in Kangra district has also completely stopped. More than fifteen petrol pumps in Kullu district’s Bajaura, Banjar as well as the tourist city Manali have become completely dry.
There are long queues of up to two kilometers at every petrol pump where petrol and diesel are left. Only one day’s stock of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is left in the entire Kullu district. Petrol and diesel are completely exhausted at many petrol pumps in Hamirpur district. Petrol and diesel are on the verge of being completely exhausted at some petrol pumps in Hamirpur district.
Due to the strike, truck drivers did not take supplies for the third consecutive day –
About eight hundred truck drivers, who are on strike at the bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) in Mehatpur and petrol and diesel plant of Pekhubela in Una district, have not taken supplies from the bottling plant for the third consecutive day on Monday. Most of the petrol pumps in Una district have completely run out of petrol and diesel.
The stock of petrol and diesel at the petrol pump of Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Una Bus Depot has also been completely exhausted. There is a complete stoppage of diesel supply at Nahan Bus Depot of Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) for almost four days. On Monday, operation of private buses in Nalagarh, Kalka, Solan, Dharampur has also been completely affected. On Tuesday, private bus drivers and conductors are going on strike in some other districts of Himachal Pradesh also.
Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur told Diary Times correspondent Kumud Sharma that it has become difficult to operate HRTC buses due to lack of supply of diesel. On Tuesday, HRTC will club all the routes and run only one bus on one route, cutting down on two buses.
HRTC bus stopped in Shillai of Sirmaur district, scuffle and argument took place between the protesters and the police –
Rajesh Parashar, Himachal Pradesh President of Private Bus Operator Union, told Diary Times correspondent Kumud Sharma that the Modi government at the Center should think again about the amendments made in the Motor Vehicles Act. Himachal Pradesh General Secretary of Private Bus Drivers Operators Union, Akhil Gupta told Diary Times correspondent Kumud Sharma that the Narendra Modi government at the Center should amend the Motor Vehicles Act with immediate effect. An HRTC bus was stopped by protesters in Shillai, a remote area of Sirmaur district, on Monday. There was a fierce scuffle and debate between the Sirmaur police and the protesters regarding the entire matter.
Immediate order issued to maintain minimum reserve of petrol and diesel only for emergency needs –
In view of the fierce strike by all truck drivers, Mandi District Administration Magistrate Arindam Chaudhary has issued orders to all petrol pump operators of Mandi district to maintain minimum reserve of petrol and diesel for emergency needs with immediate effect.
From today, all routes of HRTC buses will be clubbed, even private buses will not run –
The effect of the complete strike of tanker drivers, which started after the complete amendment made by the Central Government in the Motor Vehicles Act regarding hit and run cases, has also started to be seen. Shortage of petrol and diesel has started at all the petrol pumps in Himachal Pradesh. The supply of petrol and diesel is being affected for the last three consecutive days. If the strike of tanker drivers does not end, then the strike on public transport will also start from Tuesday. Due to non-availability of diesel, the entire operation of private buses has started getting affected from Monday. As a precautionary measure, Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has also issued guidelines to all divisional managers with immediate effect to use the remaining diesel sparingly. To save diesel, orders have been issued to club the routes of all the buses of Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation from today.
On the other hand, from Monday, the operators of private buses have also started a massive strike against the amendments made by the Central Government in the Motor Vehicles Act, although the drivers of private buses in the entire Himachal Pradesh have not yet gone on strike.
On Monday, operation of private buses in Nalagarh, Kalka, Solan, Dharampur has been completely affected. Private bus drivers and operators are going to go on strike in some other districts of Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday. Due to shortage of diesel, even private bus operators are going to be completely unable to operate the buses.
Rajesh Parashar, Himachal Pradesh President of Private Bus Operator Union, told Diary Times correspondent Kumud Sharma that the Modi government at the Center should once again think carefully about the entire amendment made in the Motor Vehicles Act.
Rajesh Parashar said that no driver wants to cause an accident intentionally. Drivers of all the buses are clearly refusing to run the buses today, due to which it is becoming increasingly difficult for the operators to run the buses. Due to shortage of diesel, operators are facing problems and difficulties in operating buses. Himachal Pradesh General Secretary of Himachal Pradesh Private Bus Drivers Operators Union, Akhilesh Gupta told Diary Times correspondent Kumud Sharma that the Narendra Modi government at the Center should thoughtfully and amend the Motor Vehicles Act with immediate effect.
All the drivers and operators of buses have become strongly against the amendment made in the Motor Vehicles Act.
Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Chief Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur has said that operating HRTC buses has become most difficult due to non-supply of diesel. Orders have been issued to all divisional managers with immediate effect to club the routes of all HRTC buses from Tuesday. Due to which, now only one bus can be operated on all the routes on which two HRTC buses were running.
Kumud Sharma is the First Well-Known Female Journalist of the Journalism World of Himachal Pradesh. I am the Founder, Editor in Chief, Managing Director, Promoter of DiaryTimes. As a Female Journalist, With My Experience of More Than Nine Years, I Tell You Every News of Himachal Pradesh From The Ground Level With Absolutely Accurate and Correct Information, Be it the Politics of Himachal Pradesh or the Ground Reality, My Perspective On Every News Will Give You Assurance. I Assure You That Every News of Mine Will Comply With the Expertise and Fact Checking Policy.
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