Triggered by the ongoing truck strike, the channel community in Hyderabad is having a bad time. “Majority of our computer goods come either from Mumbai or from Chennai and this truck strike has affected the movement of computer hardware goods. The scanner and printer market has been majorly affected because of this,” said G Mahender, MD of Secunderabad-based Compage Computers.

Although there are no reports of a price hike in the market, a lot of dealers fear that if the strike continues for more another week, then the prices might increase. “We usually get our goods directly from LG, HP and Samsung. If they are unable to send it on time then its going to be very difficult for all of us. I think that the prices will rise if the strike does not end soon,” he added.

Branded systems are the ones affected the most because of the transportation problems being faced due to the strike. “We are canceling further orders for Zenith as the system comes from Goa and we are running out of stock. So the situation for almost all the branded systems is not good but the assembled market is not doing bad, it is business as usual for them,” said, DR Bhandari, Proprietor of Brahmand Computers.

Transporters were initially given 15 months to convert to LPG and later got a three-month extension, which expired on March 31. The court said that since neither transporters nor the state government complied with the orders or even seriously attempted to arrive at a solution, they did not deserve another extension.

Majority of Hyderabad's dealers feels that if the truckers are aggrieved with the court’s order, they should appeal to the Supreme Court. Why are the transporters inconveniencing the public and fanning the loss to the business community? “It should have been dealt with at an earlier stage and now the government should try its best to stop this as soon as possible,” Bhandari added.

Other legal experts and activists point out that while transporters kept harping on the high costs of scrapping or converting their vehicles, no one paid attention to the crores of rupees the state has to spend on public health. A lawyer pointed out that the biggest cause of respiratory illness and asthma in the city was pollution and invisible health expenses are what citizens and the state exchequer have to bear. 

Zia Askari 
Hyderabad

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