Traffic jams in many places throughout India occurred due to the driver’s strike. All India Truck and Bus Drivers Union says that their chakka jam has started against this fine and punishment. The effect of this traffic jam was visible on the highways of most of the states of the country. The most affected states are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
The wheels of buses and trucks across the country stopped on the first day of the New Year. This included private buses and trucks as well as government department buses. The situation on Monday was such that not only private buses and trucks were parked on the highways of most states, but the wheels of government buses also stopped during this strike.
Reason for Driver’s Strike
People from different driver unions including All India Truck and Bus Drivers Union have started a chakka jam in the name of ‘Steering Chodo’ from January 1 to January 3.
Sonu Yadav of the organization says that due to changes made in criminal laws, the punishment in hit-and-run cases has also been increased.
Moreover, lakhs of truck drivers ply on the roads every day and many accidents also occur. In such accidents, the driver often escapes with his life. Irrespective of whether the truck driver is at fault or not. Furthermore, if the driver stops there, he can be killed by the crowd present at the accidental spot.
Under the new law, the driver who flees will face 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 7 lakh, instead of 2 years. Due to this truck and bus drivers have protested across the country. Along with bus and truck drivers, auto drivers have also opened a front against increasing the punishment period.
The organization has also appealed to Ola, Uber and other private vehicle drivers across the country to join this strike.
All India Truck and Bus Drivers Union says that if the new law made for accidents during driving is not changed, then this strike will be extended indefinitely.
The situation of the strike in protest against the new law was such that many major highways of different states of the country remained completely blocked throughout the day on Monday. Resulted in traffic jams.
Result of Traffic Jams
As a result, passengers travelling in different states of the country also faced problems. Due to the strike on national highways, they had to face heavy traffic jams in many places. Due to which people travelling through these routes they have faced a lot of problems.
Moreover, a large queue was seen on petrol pump stations in different cities in India.