Calcutta, Aug. 28: Truckers angry with Mamata Banerjee for blocking their way on Durgapur Expressway have threatened their own blockade on Saturday.

The West Bengal Federation of Truck Owners’ Association today said it would block roads in Dankuni, the gateway to Calcutta, to protest against the siege at Singur that has led to a highway pile-up.

“We are left with no option other than to protest on the streets. Over 30,000 trucks are stranded up to the Jharkhand border,” said Satyajit Majumdar, the association secretary.

Mamata, however, has denied that there is a blockade. “The claim that 20,000 trucks have got stranded is false. Police are stopping trucks and then you know what happens.... Other trucks come from behind and they, too, come to a halt. Then a section of the media takes photos of the trucks and says they are stuck because of our dharna,” she said today.

The trucks have been stuck on the road since Sunday evening because supporters of the siege are squatting or sleeping on stretches of Durgapur Expressway.

Majumdar said: “Yesterday, we requested Trinamul MLA Partha Chatterjee to leave one flank of Durgapur Expressway open for at least six hours so that goods carriers stranded since Sunday could move. But all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”

The government today ruled out the use of force to clear the road and called for “patience”.

After a cabinet meeting, chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb said: “We are still hopeful that something positive will emerge through discussions. Police officers posted at the dharna site are trying to convince Trinamul leaders to lift the blockade. We have to be a bit more patient.”

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, however, did not tell his cabinet colleagues anything about the siege situation. “We expected that the chief minister would make us aware of the situation on Durgapur Expressway but he skirted the issue at the cabinet meeting,” said a minister.

Trucks stranded in Palsit, on Durgapur Expressway. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Bhattacharjee, however, held meetings with Deb, home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti and senior police officers at Writers’ Buildings. He is learnt to have backed a “wait and watch policy”.

“The situation is grave. Fruits, vegetables and fish have been rotting in trucks stranded on the expressway since Sunday. City markets will feel the effect soon,” Chakrabarti said.

Rana Pratap Sarkar, a Calcutta resident, filed a PIL in the high court today demanding its intervention to end the road blockade. Sarkar alleged that Trinamul had not obtained permission from the National Highways Authority of India.

The PIL will be heard tomorrow.