The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Clamp-down on overloaded lorries pays off

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Sunday, May 08, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Clamp-down on overloaded lorries pays off

Suresh Krishnamoorthy

Though there is drop in revenue, State gains in terms of lesser damage to roads

State takes cognisance of the need to monitor movement of vehicles with heavy machinery
When the drive was launched, there were some doubts, says Joint Transport Commissioner

HYDERABAD: The Transport Department in the State has booked a whopping 11,286 cases of overloading against goods carriages since launching the drive on August 16 last year. Significantly, lorries carrying sand, slabs and tiles, granite, cement and metal figure rank among the top in numbers – 2010, 650, 487, 308 and 293, respectively.

According to Transport Commissioner L. Premchandra Reddy, the decision to seize the vehicles, book cases and cancel their permits, leading to their immobilisation had indeed paid off. In the earlier system, a compounding fee was imposed on overloaded lorries but it did not have the desired effect.

“We may have lost about Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 40 crore of revenue in the form of compounding fees, but the State has gained manifold in terms of lesser damage to roads and, more importantly, in terms of road safety. We, however, may not be able to exactly quantify the advantages, but it clearly tells if one were to analyse the number of accidents, specifically in comparison to the earlier years,” he said.

When the drive was launched last year, there were indeed some doubts in the minds of the enforcers, the Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVI) and the MVIs, their staff including. But as the months passed, people have felt the difference on the roads, says Joint Transport Commissioner Srinivas.

Interestingly, it has been only a few months ago that the State government has taken cognisance of the need to monitor movement of heavy industrial machinery, equipment like boilers that require long trailers with multi axles and dozens of tyres.

Compared to most goods vehicles that have only three axles, these long trailer vehicles have upwards of a dozen axles running in tandem.

Every Monday, with the Transport Commissioner as convenor of the committee comprising senior officials of the Roads & Buildings department, the National Highways Authority and other line departments meet to review and sanction such movement. “Even if they are safe enough when compared to lorries carrying sand, slabs and tiles, granite and cement, they nevertheless damage the sides of roads very badly and we need to strictly monitor their movement,” he said.

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