Meerut: With transporters across the country observing a strike to protest against hike in diesel price, as many as 15,000 truckers stayed away from work in Meerut on Friday. Their strike affected supply of food items, cloth, sports goods, medicines and others essential items.Towards the end of the day, Meerut Transport Association members said that one full day of agitation led to Rs 15-20 crore losses. However, they cautioned that if their demands are not met, they may extend their strike which will cause heavy losses to the traders. The transporters said that since various routes from Meerut will be out of bounds for ten days starting from August1, losses will only mount if their strike goes on for a week or more.Gaurav Sharma, president, Meerut Transporters’ Association, said, “The nationwide strike has been called to protest against the rising diesel prices. We want diesel price cut. The fuel should be brought under GST so that the prices are same throughout the country. Also, truckers should be exempted from toll tax and be allowed smooth movement.”Truckers from the west UP districts of Meerut and Ghaziabad have also demanded revocation of NGT’s 10-year rule on diesel vehicles in NCR. They said that this rule should not be applicable to them as despite being in NCR, they do not have such facilities.“There are nearly 15,000 truckers in Meerut who remained on strike on Friday. If our demands are not timely met and if the strike stretches till July 30, losses will only multiply,” said Sharma. Most truckers expressed solidarity with their counterparts in other parts of the country and organized a protest in support of their demands.Meanwhile, in Bareilly, the strike saw a mixed response, with most transporters doing their regular work. A member of the Transporters and Truck Owners Welfare Association, Bareilly, Saras Wadhva, said, “The city has around 1,000 transporters and truckers. A majority of them did not observe strike and thus supply of essential goods did not get affected. However, Wadhva said that the strike’s impact was visible in a few parts of the city.With inputs from Bareilly

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