SANGUEM: Sanguem Truck Owners Association (STOA) on Saturday complained to Sanguem Deputy Collector Ajay Gaude that their counterparts in Rivona have been blocking them from transporting iron ore from the mines in that village.
They complained that the tuckers in Rivona have been rejecting their request to permit their trucks to transport e-auctioned ore from various mines in operation in that village.
The STOA also submitted a memorandum to the deputy collector highlighting the problems faced by the truckers from Sanguem on account of denial by the truck owners from Rivona to permit truckers from Sanguem from plying in Rivona village.
Incidentally, during the time when the mining operation was in full bloom, the truckers from Sanguem and Rivona were in unison and almost all trucks from both the villages plied freely on either side with no restrictions. While truckers from Rivona plied at various mines in operation at Sanguem, the truckers from Sanguem and other adjoining villages plied their trucks at the mines in Rivona village.
However, since the stoppage of mining in the State, the truckers from Sanguem under the banner of Rivona Truck Owners Association stopped permitting the trucks owned by people from Sanguem and other villages from operating in the transportation of e-auctioned ore from mines in Rivona village. This was allegedly done to safeguard the business interest of truckers from Rivona as more trucks would mean less work for truckers from Rivona village.
However, the truck owners from Sanguem think otherwise. They pointed out that Rivona is a part of Sanguem constituency and this gives them every right to ply their trucks at mines in operation at Rivona village. “If we are not permitted to ply our trucks in our own constituency then where else we could go in search of work,” STOA President Rajnikant Naik asked.
