KOLHAPUR: The market will not be able to escape the impact of the truckers' strike, which entered its fourth day on Tuesday.Truck operators are adamant that the nationwide strike will not be called off until their demands are met. While many wholesalers and traders had stocked up in anticipation of bad roads creating hurdles in transport during rain, stocks are fast getting depleted.Subhash Jadhav, president of Kolhapur District Lorry Operators' Association (KDLOA) said, "Our demands are simple - reduction in diesel prices, quarterly review of fuel prices, no tolls on roads and reduction in third-party insurance premium. We also want abolition of indirect taxes and national permits for all buses and trucks."Jadhav said the association is patrolling roads to ensure that no trucks are plying. "We have formed teams that are touring the city and the national highway to ensure there are no trucks on the roads. If we find any truck carrying any load, we will instruct the driver to desist from plying until our demands are met," he said.Truck operators stalled the Pune-Bangalore national highway on Sunday afternoon and police detained around 15 persons including Jadhav and members of his association.They were later released. Police registered cases against them under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 143, 147 (rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of Indian Penal Code.District collector Avinash Subhedar called a meeting of merchants, traders and truck associations on Monday and requested them to continue to ferry essential commodities like milk, vegetables, food grains under public distribution system and food grains for mid-day meal to avoid any emergent situation.The association has said that they will consider his instructions.Sadanand Korgaonkar, president of the Merchants' Association, Kolhapur, said, "Till now the strike has caused loss of around Rs 100 crore for Kolhapur district alone."The supply of vegetables and food grains into Kolhapur district was not impacted in any great way until now because there was enough stock with traders.According to Kolhapur market committee officials, merchants and wholesale traders had stocked up on vegetables and food grains as the condition of roads deteriorates in rain and roads are sometimes closed.The first four days of the strike thus did not show any major impact. The situation now, however, could become critical as the stock will end soon."Other districts near Kolhapur and in the Konkan region will experience the impact of the strike. Food grains like rice, vegetables, sugar , jaggery, onion, milk and milk products are transported to various parts of state especially to Pune, Konkan and Mumbai by road," said an official attached to the Kolhapur market committee.

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