The Hindu : Transport Dept. to crack down on overloaded vehicles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 23, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Transport Dept. to crack down on overloaded vehicles

By Suresh Krishnamoorthy

HYDERABAD JUNE 22. Overloaded vehicles will henceforth face the wrath of the Transport Department. Officials are gearing up to crack down on the vehicles carrying excess load from June 25 in a bid to save national highways from wear and tear.

They will make sure that the extra material is offloaded and allow the vehicle to proceed onwards after paying the fine. The minimum penalty for carrying excess loads is Rs. 2,000 for the offence and Rs. 1,000 per each tonne of overload. As of now, the practice in the State has been to allow the vehicles to proceed after paying the penalty but without off-loading the excess.

It may be recalled that during the recent transport strike, one of the points agreed upon by the Government was that vehicles would be allowed to proceed after paying the fine and off-loading the excess material. According to the rules, each axle of a goods vehicle can carry only up to nine tonnes. Anything more is considered as excess.

When contacted, the Transport Commissioner, A. Giridhar told The Hindu that apart from the damage to the road surface, overloaded vehicles also led to deterioration in ambient air quality through enhanced auto emissions. In addition, there was also the safety aspect.

"It is common knowledge that vehicles carrying excess loads are more accident-prone,'' he said.

Coming to the important aspect of where the offloaded material will be stored, the Government has permitted the godowns of the Marketing Department to be used for safe custody of offloaded goods.

"At the originating point, preventive action will be taken by using the facilities available to weigh the vehicles. In due course, mobile weighing machines will be provided to the officers,'' said Mr. Giridhar.

The circular issued by the Transport Commissioner to all Motor Vehicle Inspectors in the State marks a significant move to follow circulars which are issued by the Ministry of Transport and Highways, Government of India, from time to time.

Apart from being concerned about the wear and tear to national highways, another point that irked the Centre was that State Governments were taking the revenue earned by way of fines.

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