Weighing machines at toll plazas to check overloading

Tribune News Service

Karnal, June 29

To curb vehicle overloading, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is installing electronic weighing machines and weigh-in-motion (WIM) bridges at toll plazas near Bastara village of the district and in Panipat on the NH-1.

“We have installed WIM bridges in each lane of the toll plaza and electronic weighing machines on both sides of the NH-1. WIM bridges calculate the weight of the vehicle when it passes over it,” said, Deepak Lamba, monitoring officer of Soma-Isolux, a company operating Bastara toll plaza.

“The work of installing weighing machines would be completed in few days,” said SK Jha, Route Operation Manager, L&T, the company operating the toll plaza in Panipat.

Overloading is one of the major causes behind road accidents. As many as 1,000 overloaded vehicles have been challaned and around Rs 1.5 crore realised as fine during the last quarter in Karnal district,” said Pradhuman Singh, secretary, Regional Transport Authority (RTA).

As per the NHAI sources, it is mandatory to install such machines at toll plazas to check overloading by vehicles. Toll plazas can charge 10 times the toll from overloaded vehicles, an official said.