Govt to take legal action against bus, lorry owners

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 2 (UNI) Lorry and bus operators in Kerala today turned down an appeal by the trade unions to withdraw their four-day-old strike that cripped normal life in many parts of the state even as the Government started seizing the vehicles and making alternative arrangements to ensure supply of essential commodities.

After a meeting with Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, INTUC, CITU, BMS, AITUC and other trade union leaders appealed to the agitators to call off their indefinite strike. The Government could not give any assurance to the vehicle owners on the issue of installing speed governors, as any such step would be a contempt of court, they added.

Meanwhile, the State Coordination Committee of bus and lorry owners association said at Kochi that they would go ahead with the strike.

The Government had also started taking punitive action, including impounding vehicles that did not ply and issuance of new permits, as part of a series of measures to counter the strike that badly hit the Northern districts, which were mainly depending on private buses. Meanwhile, some private buses and other vehicles started to run at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kasargode, as certain organisations had withdrawn from the strike.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the ruling Left Democratic Front(LDF) urged the Government to take the necessary steps to face the strike.

MORE UNI CGV KVV BDP BST2119