Ambala: Stranded for days on highway, truck drivers at receiving end

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, February 14

Amid the tussle between farmers and the state government, truck drivers are at the receiving end as they are stuck on NH-44 with their loaded trucks. Several trucks loaded with spare parts, sugar, edible items, packets of beedi, milk and other items can be seen stranded along the service lane on NH-44.

The trucks had reached here from various states, including West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi, and were on way to different districts of Punjab. The drivers said they had been left without food, limited cash and without Internet facility.

Raju, a truck driver, said, “I reached Ambala on February 10 and was on my way from Chhattisgarh to Ludhiana but due to closure of the Shambhu border I was stopped here. Yesterday, I went to a dhaba and I was charged Rs 300 and now I am left with very little money. Since the Internet is also suspended, I can’t even ask my boss to transfer money online. Now, I am left with only some biscuits, namkeen and water. The government and the farmers should resolve their issues as the general public is being harassed.”

Truck driver Kirti Mandal, who is waiting in Ambala with two trucks loaded with beedi, said, “We are on way to Ludhiana from West Bengal but were stopped here on February 10. We have been preparing our food here after getting groceries from a local shop. There are many like us.”

Meanwhile, a driver of a courier company truck, said: “The company owner has been asking me to find internal routes and deliver packets in Rajpura, but I have recently started this job and have no idea about the other routes.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Sanjay, another truck driver, said: “I reached here from Kolhapur and have to deliver spare parts of tractors at Hoshiarpur, but I have been stuck here for three days.”