BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Commercial Trucks Association has opposed the ban on the movement of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the city and have threatened to hold a protest if they are not allowed on the roads.
The Bengaluru traffic police are implementing various measures to regulate traffic and, as part of this, medium and light commercial vehicles are being allowed within the city only during certain hours. Trucks are not allowed into the city during peak hours from 8 am to 11 am and from 5 pm to 8 pm, but the truckers’ association has opposed this measure. They have written to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and Special Commissioner (Traffic) M A Saleem to withdraw the order.
“We have proposed to withdraw the ‘no entry’ rules more than three times. Other than our transport vehicles, all other vehicles are allowed to travel in the city. We want a solution for this. Before deciding on any rules, we want RTOs and traffic police commissioners to discuss with us”, insisted Murugan, president of the Bengaluru Commercial Trucks Association.
“Town planning should be done by the government. We pay road taxes and for insurance, but we do not get any facilities. We want the authorities to find other solutions. Even KSRTC buses are big vehicles, but no one stops them. It is very difficult to transport cargo from one place to another and hence, we have planned to protest against the government. We have requested the government and traffic police commissioner to withdraw the no-entry rules”, said Srinivas, vice-president of the association.
“In the daytime, we have banned the entry of all the goods vehicles in the city. The ban is during peak hours and this is not a new rule. We have implemented the 2014 rules and we can’t change it. There is a difference in traffic congestion in the city after we have implemented it”, pointed out said Dr M A Saleem, Additional Director General of Police and Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).