The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Modernisation of Motor Vehicles Department checkposts hanging fire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Modernisation of Motor Vehicles Department checkposts hanging fire

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Project developed by NATPAC will increase revenue

Thiruvananthapuram: Modern checkposts of the Motor Vehicles Department is unlikely to materialise in the near future with confusion about whether to go ahead with the project or to have integrated checkposts to cater to the needs of other departments.

The project for modernising and computerising the 12 inter-State motor vehicle checkposts prepared by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) has been gathering dust for several years.

A high-level team from the MVD headquarters led by the then State Transport Commissioner had visited Gujarat in 2003 to see the functioning of the modernised checkposts there.

A top MVD official told The Hindu that the confusion over whether to have exclusive checkposts for the MVD or to have an integrated checkposts had led to the delay in taking up the project. The delay would cost the State dearly. The State is also likely to lose the Centre’s financial support, sources said. Levies and taxes and penalties for violation of Motor Vehicles Act were collected at these checkposts.

Commodities, consumer goods, raw materials and capital goods enter the State mostly through Amaravila, Aryankavu, Kumily, Walayar, Velanthavalam, Gopalapuram, Vazhikkadavu, Sulthan Bathery, Kattikulam, Iritty, Thalappady and Neeleswaram.

The existing manual system of checking was not sufficient to carry out all the checks envisaged, sources said. Absence of lay bys, delay in manual checking, traffic snarls and number of escape routes in various locations were the major shortcomings at present.

The functioning of the MVD checkposts included verification of various documents, loading of goods vehicle and collection of fines for various violations like certificate of registration, tax card, trip sheet, authorisation slip and receipt for composite tax payment.

The NATPAC has recommended new design for the checkposts based on the approved codes of practices and guidelines of the Indian Roads Congress. Four-lane divided carriageway had been recommended in the influence area of major checkposts and two lanes with centre line markings for minor checkposts.

Counters or checking booths at the end of lay by, weighbridge for goods vehicle at each entry point and sufficient parking bay for vehicles confiscated from the checkposts have been recommended.

A software was also developed by NATPAC to interlink all the 12 checkposts and to access and monitor the functioning from a central location.

The project and software was prepared after carrying out traffic and engineering surveys.

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