Overloaded tractor-trailers a traffic hazard on city roads

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 17

Failure to check the plying of overloaded trucks and trolleys has become a matter of concern. It has not only led to fatal accidents but has also damaged roads, culverts and bridges in the state.

It is also posing a serious threat to the commuters travelling on the road as it has been seen that while plying on link roads, these overloaded vehicles take up the whole road space and make it difficult for vehicles to cross or overtake them.

The illegal plying of such vehicles goes unchecked right under the nose of the traffic policemen who always turn a blind eye towards the problem.

The plying of overloaded tractor-trailers with cotton or wheat stalk goes on unchecked on city roads. A large number of such tractor-trailers, overloaded with the cotton stalk, could be seen plying on the roads during the day.

Despite claims of the traffic policemen that these trolleys do not ply during the daytime, these were seen plying on busy routes leading to more chaos on the roads.

“One fails to cross these trolleys as these are overloaded and do not allow any other vehicle to pass through. I witnessed a tractor-trolley yesterday on the link road near Rampura where traffic has been diverted due to protest, which choked the entire stretch,” said Gurmeet Singh, a resident of the area.

Another resident Vikas Verma said these overloaded vehicles should be stopped as they block the vision of the driver of the cars or other vehicles, due to which a ban on these vehicles should be enforced strictly. 

Surjit Singh, a city resident, said a few days back, he was returning from Chandigarh. At night, an overloaded trolley was parked on the road without any reflector and light attached to it. Due to this, his vehicle rammed into it and was damaged. However, he had a narrow escape.

Bathinda traffic police officials denied the plying of such vehicles on city roads during the daytime. He pointed out that there was a ban in this regard. However, he added that the traffic police did not issue challans to such vehicles and only warned them.