Belgaum: It is about a year since the Supreme Court ordered the State Government not to allow trucks carrying "excess" load on highways.

However, overloaded trucks, especially those transporting mineral ore, continue to ply on highways.

A challenge

The problem continues to be a challenge to the Government, which has failed to check individual truck operators and drivers who are causing a loss to the State's revenue.

Though there is a relative improvement in the situation in Belgaum after the court order in November last, the department concerned must implement the order effectively, said a spokesman of Belgaum District Truck Owners Association.

Many truck operators, who carry excess load, usually get away by paying fine, he said.

When contacted, a senior official in the Regional Transport Office (RTO) confirmed about cases of overloading by truck operators in the district.

255 cases booked

He told The Hindu here on Wednesday that 255 cases had been booked for excess loading of mineral ore in trucks between April and October this year, and a fine of Rs. 18.8 lakh was collected from the defaulters.

Last year, for the same period, 615 cases were booked.

This shows that there was an improvement in the situation after the Government enforced the order, he said.

All trucks transporting mineral ore from Bellary pass through the district on way to Goa. However, the RTO does not have the exact number of such trucks.

Communication gap

This clearly points at absence of communication between various check posts on the State boundary.

The State Government is legitimising excess loading by collecting fines from defaulters, said a member of the association.

The truck operators have found an easy escape route by paying fines.

The fine were collected only when they were caught, he said.

Royalty

Citing an example, sources said, a truck transporting 15 tonnes (permissible limit) of bauxite from Byndoor to Belgaum had to pay Rs.1,982 as royalty to the Government.

The royalty was higher for every tonnes of ore over the permissible limit, they said.

However, many trucks were transporting up to 40 tonnes of ore without paying the required royalty causing loss to the Government.

Response awaited

The association had submitted a memorandum to the Development Commissioner of north Karnataka Region on November 6 on the issue.

The official response was awaited.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail