TURA: Members of the All Garo Hills Construction Material Suppliers and Workers Association have urged upon the state government to set up a fool proof mechanism to check the movement of trucks carrying boulders from Bhutan for supply to Bangladesh through Garo Hills.
It complained that the trucks from Bhutan entering Garo Hills from Paikan in Assam carry loads beyond the permissible limits.
It creates traffic chaos while passing through Tura and Dalu border town and encourage illegal extortion as several groups are collecting tax from these truckers along the route.
Recently, two Garo organisations, Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE) and A’chik Holistic Awakening Movement (AHAM), accused one another of extorting from the Bhutan truckers leading to filing of police complaints.
The suppliers association also alleged that the Transport check gate of the state government at Duragre is illegally collecting a whooping Rs 3000 from each truck as it enters Tura while another Rs 500 is being taken by officials from the Land Customs Station on the international border with Bangladesh in Dalu town.
Meanwhile, questions are being raised by citizens of Tura as to why heavy goods laden trucks are being allowed to enter and pass through the town en route to the border station.
“Why are authorities allowing such heavy trucks to enter when they could have easily used the Goalpara-Agia route to enter via Tikrikilla and head to the border,” questioned the citizens of Tura.
There are concerns that the daily movement of such trucks will lead to severe damage of the roads in and around Tura.
