Deputy Commissioner Diprava Lakra said he held a meeting with the transporters and they had raised the issue that “gooda tax” was being taken from them. He said he had told the SSP to look into it and take strict action.
Pankaj Vinayak, PRO, Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, said, “Transporters have directly raised the matter with the district administration and the refinery management has not been told about the matter. Earlier, they had raised the issue with the management, who resolved the matter with the support of the district administration and the state government.”
Sources claimed that due to the ongoing tussle, the transportation of construction material had been halted since January 25. The contractors had been left with a limited stock of material with which they could continue work for only two more days. The suppliers had stopped the transportation of sand, gravel and other material due to the alleged “goonda tax”.
The people demanding “goonda tax” were allegedly affiliated with the ruling party.Various construction works were going on in the refinery, but mainly the construction of the petrochemical unit was affected due to the tussle, the sources said.
Two months ago, the state government had signed MoUs for setting up polypropylene units with 90 companies from across India in the Bathinda and Sangrur area, but these incidents can affect or delay the setting up of these units in the state.
Last year also the production at the Rs 21,500-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery had suffered due to a tussle between transporters hired by refinery vendors and the local transport union. Even a clash was also reported outside the refinery and a truck was also damaged in the incident.
The refinery has been facing such problems due to self-proclaimed truck unions affiliated with political parties since March 2016 and despite repeated representations to the government nothing has been done so far.
(The Tribune)
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