Truck and bus drivers are carrying out strikes in different parts across the nation to oppose the provision of a Rs 7 lakh penalty and a 10-year jail term for hit-and-run cases under the newly-passed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The new law, which repealed the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), provides up to 10 years of punishment for fleeing an accident spot and not reporting the incident. Earlier, the accused could be jailed only for up to two years under Section 304A of the IPC (causing death by negligence).
Truck drivers blocked the Agra-Delhi National Highway during a protest over the stringent provisions under proposed legislation on hit-and-run cases under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 in Mathura. (PTI photo)
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Truck and bus drivers have gone on strike in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and several other states. This has led to a shortage of fuel in several cities while scores of passengers have been affected due to the strike.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: Long queues at petrol pumps in Nagpur as Transport Association, drivers protest against new law on hit and run cases. pic.twitter.com/FWgQd1F5iH
— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2024
The protests have triggered panic-buying among two-wheelers and four-wheelers, prompting long queues outside petrol pumps. Long queues were seen outside petrol pumps in Nagpur, Thane, Jalgaon, and Dhulia as people waited for their turns to fill the tankers of their vehicles.
Maharashtra
Truck drivers staged “rasta roko” protests at many places in Maharashtra on Monday against the provision in the new penal law regarding hit-and-run road accident cases involving motorists.
Truck drivers also briefly blocked traffic on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in the Mira Bhayandar area in Thane district and threw stones at cops, leaving a policeman injured. A police vehicle was damaged by stone pelting.
Roads were also blocked in Solapur, Kolhapur, Nagpur and Gondia districts, officials said, adding that the situation in Navi Mumbai and other places is under control.
#WATCH | Nagpur, Maharashtra: People crowd up fuel pumps to fill up their vehicle tanks fearing a shortage of fuel as truck drivers protest against the hit-and-run law. pic.twitter.com/BA8r5aBYWt
— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2024
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Protection Department has written a letter to all police commissioners and superintendents of police expressing concern about the stir and its affect on the supply of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders, PTI reported.
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Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, transport unions claimed that around 10,000 private buses, trucks and taxis did not run on Monday impacting public transport in the state.
ट्रक ड्राइवर की हड़ताल के चलते एमपी में बढ़ी पेट्रोल डीजल की किल्लत, पेट्रोल पंप पर लंबी कतारेंमोटर व्हीकल एक्ट का विरोध कर रहे है ड्राइवर्स! #PetrolDieselPrice #TruckDriversProtest pic.twitter.com/4S3Y3ym13x
— Akansha Thakur (@akanshathakur7) January 2, 2024
In several districts such as Indore, Balaghat, Ujjain, Ratlam and Bhopal, long queues of vehicles could be seen at fuel stations as supplies started drying up towards the afternoon. At Dhar, drivers parked their trucks on the Mumbai-Agra highway and stopped private vehicles from going further while at Panna, bus and truck drivers blocked the National Highway-39.
Punjab
A significant number of commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, refrained from operating across Punjab on Monday to protest against the new law and demanded its repealment.
Truck drivers initiated a protest on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road in Moga, disrupting traffic. As per transporters, truck drivers have also assembled at the Shambhu border near Ambala, obstructing the movement of trucks.
Chhattisgarh
Drivers of commercial buses and truckers on Monday stopped work and staged protests at several places in Chhattisgarh demanding the withdrawal of the provision in the new penal law regarding hit-and-run accident cases involving motorists.
More than 12,000 private bus drivers across the state announced a strike on Monday, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded at bus stations in Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, and Rajnandgaon among other cities.
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Protests in other states
Private bus operators have gone on strike in Haryana’s Jind while those running autos too have opened a new front against the new law. The truckers allege the new law will discourage drivers from their duty and also prevent new ones from taking up the job.
#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh: Long queues at petrol pumps in Dharamshala as Transport Association, drivers protest against new law on hit and run cases. pic.twitter.com/OWHvqXrTwS
— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2024
Similar demonstrations erupted in Lucknow where bus drivers too joined the truckers in their protest against the new law. Truck and tanker drivers staged protests in parts of Madhya Pradesh too. Yesterday, some truckers had blocked NH-2 in West Bengal’s Hooghly district to protest the new law.
The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023 replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code last year in an attempt to simplify and Indianise the criminal laws.