In the wake of the State Government imposing the ESMA, all agitating 16 truck and tipper owners’ associations in the Koida and Joda mining circles of Sundargarh and Keonjhar districtscalled off their strike on Wednesday afternoon.
However, association members said they took this decision after getting assurance from Transport Minister Ramesh Majhi that concerned district Collectors would hold discussion over their demands soon. An eight-member delegation had met the Minister in Bhubaneswar on Monday, informed Rourkela Tipper Association president BR Beuria.
Earlier in the day, the State Government had imposed the Odisha Essential Services (Maintenance) Act (ESMA), 1988 for six months to stop truck and tripper operators from continuing their strike in Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts while terming the strike as ‘illegal’.
Notably, operators of trucks and trippers engaged in mineral transportation have been on strike since July 20 over a freight-charge dispute between them and transporters of various sponge iron industries and mines. Resultantly, mineral transport in the entire iron ore bearing area of the State has been paralysed.
Home Department Special Secretary lalit Das informed media persons about the ESMA decision on Wednesday.According to sources, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved the Mines and Steel Department’s recommendation to invoke ESMA on the truckers’ agitation. The Home Department was to issue a formal notification in this regard soon after.
Around 30,000 trucks and tippers belonging to 16 associations in Koida and Joda mining circles of Sundargarh and Keonjhar had been on strike in protest against the State Government’s proposed move to fix a ceiling on transport cost and award of transportation contracts through the e-tendering process.
The strike had hit iron ore dispatches by about 2 lakh tonnes per day, causing a revenue loss of Rs 12 crore a day to the State exchequer by way of royalty, sources added.Production in three major pellet plants, the Jindal Steel and Power limited (JSPl) plant at Barbil, the Brahmani River Pellets limited (BRPl) and the Aryan Pellets,had come to a halt for non-supply of raw materials due to the strike.