Sunday, Apr 20, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau
Stocks, worth crores of rupees, including foodgrains, cement, turmeric, finished goods, raw materials clothing, hosiery and perishable goods such as eggs and seafood remained in godowns and factories, according to reports from different parts of the State. The prices of vegetables, fruits and even tender coconuts continued to rule high in all markets, although buses are being used by farmers to move the commodities to the nearest markets. The prices of foodgrains also soared, and in the past three days increased by almost 30 per cent, market reports said. Traders said the rice and sugar consignment arrivals were dwindling, and a further increase in the open market price of these commodities could not be ruled out in the next few days. Over 2.5 lakh lorries, trucks, tankers are off the roads in the State as part of the agitation. Claiming that the strike was total, a leader of the agitating truckers said lorries moving milk and water lorries would be joining the strike depending on the outcome of the next round of negotiations with the Government. The truckers were also sore at the repeated threat of use of the Essential Services Maintenance Act. Sources in the petroleum trade, however, said there were adequate stocks to meet the demand till Monday, even while hoping for police support for replenishment of the automobile fuels. But the most affected seems to be the industrial units and the workforce dependent on them directly and indirectly for a livelihood. Normal business for them have come under strain either due to the pile-up of the manufactured goods or in the absence of fresh raw material. Similarly, exporters dealing in perishable goods complained of heavy loss and said it could damage their reputation among the foreign buyers. Cargo handling operations at the Chennai port have also been badly hit. But a senior executive of the container terminal at the Chennai port said the facility was fully geared to handle the "rush of cargo" once the stir is called off.
Damaged in
stone-throwing
The police said a truck carrying cement near the Valasaiyur police limits (Salem district) and another carrying `maida' within the Pollachi west police limits were damaged in stone-throwing. No one was arrested. Two oil tankers carrying petrol from the Narimanam refinery, near Nagapattinam, were stoned at by lorry drivers at Veppankulam in the Madukkur police station limits in Thanjavur district last night. The windscreens of the tankers were damaged and the driver of one of the tankers, Ganesa Subbaiah, was injured. Gurunathan and Muthukrishnan were arrested. Meanwhile, the All-India Tax Payers Association president, Ashok Kumbhat, in an open appeal, urged the Prime Minister to resolve the agitation immediately and prevent further loss to the economy and hardship to the common man.
`T.N. should intervene'
The PMK leader, S. Ramadoss, today sought the Tamil Nadu Government's intervention to bring to an end to the lorry strike within the State. Though it was a nationwide stir, according to Press reports, the main demands of lorry owners appeared to be those which had to be sorted out only by a few States such as Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Delhi. But the southern States were the ones which were badly affected by the strike. Should the people of Tamil Nadu also suffer for problems concerning a few northern States, he asked.
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