Hyderabad: On a day when chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy stressed on the need to crack down on unfit public transport vehicles, especially school buses, in the wake of the recent mishap involving Shirdi pilgrims, startling revelations came to light. It appears that many of the vehicles which were declared fit by the transport department officials may not be actually fit enough to ply on the roads.
According to sources, a major lacunae occurs at the inspection level itself as instead of a motor vehicle inspector (MVI), constables without the necessary knowledge, carry out the physical test of the vehicle and certify it. As per rules, the physical test is supposed to be done by an MVI by taking a trial ride besides checking the condition of the equipment, the braking system, tyres and pollution emission levels. But in reality, at the RTA’s vehicle checking centres across the state, constables carry out the preliminary test which involves checking the ignition, verification of the chassis and registration number and then hand it over to the MVI who merely certifies the fitness of the vehicle without carrying out any checking himself. Most often, a certain sum of money changes hands, said the sources.
“At RTA centres like Secunderabad, Mehdipatnam, Bahadurpura and Nagole, the vehicles are checked for fitness when they are parked on the road. Without driving a vehicle, how can any expert certify a vehicle?’’ an RTA official said on condition of anonymity.
As of now, 10,000 of the total 22,000 school buses in the state are yet to be given fitness certificates. But questions are being raised whether the 12,000 buses, which were granted fitness certificates, are actually fit.
In order to break the strong nexus between transport vehicle operators and RTA officials, a system of Automated Vehicle Test Centres (AVTC), where a computer will give the certification by making a vehicle undergo various tests, was proposed a few years ago. However, following a strong resistance, the proposal was virtually shelved.
In cities like Delhi, AVTCs are established. A team of senior transport department officials led by the then transport minister Kanna Lakshminarayana and then commissioner Raymond Peter visited European countries to study the AVTC system but the proposal to set up a similar system by spending Rs 5 crore was shelved with the change of officials.
Across the state, there are 15 lakh transport vehicles, which include school buses, tourist buses and lorries, which need to take fitness every year.
But joint transport commissioner G Panduranga Rao while speaking to TOI admitted that during the physical verification, their officials were not conducting the trial run because of some constraints. “An MVI will be taking the help of constables for checking the chassis number but it is not true that he will blindly certify. If it is an old vehicle then MVI may go for a test ride,’’ Panduranga Rao said. He also said that the proposal for AVTC is still under consideration as the Union government came forward to fund the project and most probably, the centre might come up in Nagole.
Meanwhile, transport department officials uploaded a GO issued in 2011 on its website and said that additional conditions were laid down for school buses. But the fact is that most of the conditions are not being followed by schools. One of the conditions in the GO is that the driver, who is chosen by the school management, should inform the parents committee. It also says that members of parents committee and the principal should physically verify the condition of buses.
According to sources, a major lacunae occurs at the inspection level itself as instead of a motor vehicle inspector (MVI), constables without the necessary knowledge, carry out the physical test of the vehicle and certify it. As per rules, the physical test is supposed to be done by an MVI by taking a trial ride besides checking the condition of the equipment, the braking system, tyres and pollution emission levels. But in reality, at the RTA’s vehicle checking centres across the state, constables carry out the preliminary test which involves checking the ignition, verification of the chassis and registration number and then hand it over to the MVI who merely certifies the fitness of the vehicle without carrying out any checking himself. Most often, a certain sum of money changes hands, said the sources.
“At RTA centres like Secunderabad, Mehdipatnam, Bahadurpura and Nagole, the vehicles are checked for fitness when they are parked on the road. Without driving a vehicle, how can any expert certify a vehicle?’’ an RTA official said on condition of anonymity.
As of now, 10,000 of the total 22,000 school buses in the state are yet to be given fitness certificates. But questions are being raised whether the 12,000 buses, which were granted fitness certificates, are actually fit.
In order to break the strong nexus between transport vehicle operators and RTA officials, a system of Automated Vehicle Test Centres (AVTC), where a computer will give the certification by making a vehicle undergo various tests, was proposed a few years ago. However, following a strong resistance, the proposal was virtually shelved.
In cities like Delhi, AVTCs are established. A team of senior transport department officials led by the then transport minister Kanna Lakshminarayana and then commissioner Raymond Peter visited European countries to study the AVTC system but the proposal to set up a similar system by spending Rs 5 crore was shelved with the change of officials.
Across the state, there are 15 lakh transport vehicles, which include school buses, tourist buses and lorries, which need to take fitness every year.
But joint transport commissioner G Panduranga Rao while speaking to TOI admitted that during the physical verification, their officials were not conducting the trial run because of some constraints. “An MVI will be taking the help of constables for checking the chassis number but it is not true that he will blindly certify. If it is an old vehicle then MVI may go for a test ride,’’ Panduranga Rao said. He also said that the proposal for AVTC is still under consideration as the Union government came forward to fund the project and most probably, the centre might come up in Nagole.
Meanwhile, transport department officials uploaded a GO issued in 2011 on its website and said that additional conditions were laid down for school buses. But the fact is that most of the conditions are not being followed by schools. One of the conditions in the GO is that the driver, who is chosen by the school management, should inform the parents committee. It also says that members of parents committee and the principal should physically verify the condition of buses.
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