Overloading of trucks goes unchecked

PALAMPUR: Overloaded trucks have become a matter of serious concern in Kangra These trucks are not only flouting the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act MVA but also resulting in fatal accidents

Updated At : 06:41 AM Jun 14, 2016 IST

An overloaded truck leads to the bridge collapse. Tribune photo

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 13

Overloaded trucks have become a matter of serious concern in Kangra. These trucks are not only flouting the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), but also resulting in fatal accidents. Besides, national and state highway roads are suffering heavy damages due to these overloaded trucks.

Trucks, carrying cement, marble, imported timber, tiles and steel, are particularly flouting the provisions of the MVA. These trucks carry the load more than the prescribed limit of nine tons resulting in heavy damage to roads in the state.

At present, there is no check on the overloading of trucks carrying goods from factories and equipment for power projects. Beside causing lots of pollution in the region, these trucks also cause heavy damage to internal link roads used by truckers to avoid tax barriers.

Most of these trucks carry goods measuring between 15 to 25 tons openly violating the provisions of the MVA. Whatever tax these vehicles pay to the state government is quite nominal as compared to the loss being caused to roads in the state.

Failure on the part of the state to deal with this menace, the state Public Works Department finds itself helpless and damage to roads is going on unabated.

According to the existing provisions of law, no vehicle can carry more than the load of 9 tons, but there is no check on the overloading of trucks in the state. The weighing machines installed at a high cost by the government at different entry points of the state are either out of order or not put to use by staff at the barriers. No officer bothers about getting these machines repaired. In the absence of proper checks, over 90 per cent of trucks carry goods more than the prescribed limit, resulting in the destruction of roads, culverts and bridges on the highways. Official figures reveal that out of 100 traffic challans filed by these authorities in various courts of law in the state, only 5 per cent pertains to offences relating to overloading while the 95 per cent of other offences. Rampant corruption in traffic police has made the matter worse.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the three states in the country, where there is a blanket ban on the entry of overloaded trucks. In these states, no truck can carry more than the prescribed limit of load.

If any overloaded vehicle is detected, a minimum fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed. All inter-state barriers are equipped with latest weighing machines and it is mandatory for every vehicle to pass through these machines.

An officer of the rank of District Transport Officer mans all such interstate barriers.

Therefore, the condition of roads is much better in these states as compared to other states. If Himachal also enacts the same laws, the situation can be improved and the state can save crores of rupees being spent on the repair of roads every year.