Agitations force people to put off moving plans

VISAKHAPATNAM: Private sector bank employee Surabattula Gopal, who recently got transferred to the Hyderabad branch, has been literally rendered homeless. For though the 35-year-old banking professional, who used to work with the Dwarakanagar branch till July 31, was transferred to Hyderabad with effect from August 1 following a promotion, he is forced to languish in a paying guest accommodation in the capital city while his family is still stuck in Vizag.
With tempers running high due to the Samaikyandhra agitations sweeping across the 13 Seemandhra districts that has crippled transportation services, Gopal did not want to take the risk of moving his family and stuff to Hyderabad.
Many people put off their decision to shift their household items, movers and packers have seen their business slump by over half in the past three weeks. “Many people have put off their decision to shift house ever since Samaikyandhra protests began, due to which our business is down by nearly 50%,” said S Shankara Rao, manager, Safe Packers and Movers located at the Railway Station Road opposite TSR Complex here.
“Before the agitations started, most of the major packing and moving companies used to handle nearly 30-40 customers per month moving to various parts of the country from the city. But, the number has come down to 15-20 clients per month now with services of packers and movers, particularly between Vizag and Hyderabad, being completely stalled due to the protests,” Rao told TOI.
S Surendra, proprietor, Kaleswari Packers and Movers, at Akkayyapalem here too has a similar tale to narrate. “Forget Hyderabad, we are facing an uphill task finding customers wanting to move to even nearby locations like Srikakulam, which is 100-kms away from the city. Recently while shifting the stuff of a client our men took almost half a day extra due to the blockages on NH-16 as well as in town,” he said.
According to him, their trucks transporting household items have been stuck in traffic jams along the way on their way to major towns and cities due to the protests. “However, I don’t want to blame anyone as people are protesting for the cause of Samaikhyandhra,” Surendra added. According to industry sources, Vizag city has nearly 40 professional packers and movers, including 10 major players engaged in long-distance transport of goods to cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Tirupati and Vijayawada.
The rest of the packers and movers primarily cater to those shifting stuff in and around the city and neighbouring areas such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Kakinada and Rajahmundry. Depending on the size and nature of the load and the distance to be covered, the packers and movers charge anything from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000. The monthly turnover of professional packers and movers is to the tune of Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore, it is learnt.
The uncertainties arising out of the protests has seen many transporters charge an additional 10-15% for daytime transport and 15-20% additional on late night transportation due to the risk involved and the fact that many customers are opting to shift their stuff at night and don’t ming coughing up additional charges, said transporters.
Like K Anuradha, who hired the services of a packers and movers in the city to shift her household items from Rajahmundry to Vizag during the night hours. “Because of the protests in the day time, we opted for late night services by paying an additional Rs 2,000,” said Anuradha, a resident of Peda Waltair.
“We are taking some additional charges on our services due to the protests. Many times our vehicles were not able to reach back in time due to the protests in the last three weeks. Labour too is asking for additional service charge due to the delays in transportation. Keeping all this in mind, we are forced to collect additional charges from our customers,” said Srinivasa Rao, who works at a packing and moving company in the city. Rao said that most of the vehicles were scared about the burning tyres and effigies on the road.
The higher risk of transportation has also meant many people who were earlier reluctant to cough up insurance charges for their goods are not readily opting for it, say transporters. “Earlier, it used to take a lot of coaxing to convince clients to take a transport insurance coverage. But now, the clients themselves are opting for it, may be because of the agitations,” said Kiran from a packer and mover company at Dwarakanagar.