About 4 lakh lorries will go off the road on Thursday in response to a one-day bandh call given by the Andhra Pradesh Lorry Owners Association (APLOA) demanding rollback of the diesel price hike. However, transportation of essential goods is exempted from the bandh.
The opposition parties have given a call for Bharat Bandh on September 20 in protest against the ‘anti-people’ decisions of the Congress-led UPA Government which included increase in the price of diesel, opening up the retail sector to FDI and capping of the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to households.
Speaking to Express, association treasurer N Krishna said there are about 4 lakh trucks in the state. If the trucks go off the road, it will cause a loss of `16 crore a day.
Association general secretary YV Eswara Rao demanded that the UPA Government roll back the diesel price hike as it will fuel inflation.
The steep hike in the price of diesel will hit the transport industry badly rendering thousands of workers jobless, he said.
The association will intensify its agitation if the Centre fails to roll back the diesel price hike within a fortnight, he said.