GPS-enabled vehicles to ferry apple from Himachal this season

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, July 6

Ferrying apple to mandis will be much safer from this season onwards as only GPS-enabled vehicles will be allowed to transport the fruit to mandis outside the state. The decision has been taken to curb the incidents of thefts of trucks on way to mandis outside the state.

SP Sanjeev Gandhi said, “The police will have access to these GPS devices. It will help the police trace the vehicles that are stolen or diverted from the path leading to the scheduled destination.”

In other measure to curb cheating with growers, the police are preparing a data base of buyers/loaders with dubious record and credentials. “Many buyers from outside the state have duped growers in the past. They cheat people in one mandi and then move to the other the next season. We are preparing a data base of such elements, and we will share it with the APMCs,” Gandhi said. “The KYC of all dubious buyers will be scrutinised in the police control rooms,” he said.

Due to sharp rise in the number of complaints of cheating, check bounce, non-payment, etc, the government formed an SIT in 2019 to protect the growers and ensure they get their payments. As per the official record, the SIT had received 2,036 complaints till January 2023. Out of these complaints, the SIT has resolved 1,782 complaints, facilitating the payment of Rs 24.50 crore to the growers.

Besides, the police will make efforts to cut down the number of accidents and casualties during the apple season. “The police will identify the bottlenecks and accident-prone areas on the apple roads. Action will be ensured against drunk drivers, overloaded vehicles and over speeding vehicles,” said Gandhi. Also, special signage will be put on black spots having history of accidents.

100 have gone missing in 5 years

In the last five years, around 100 vehicles went missing while on their way to the mandis. To curb the problem, only GPS-enabled vehicles will be registered for the inter-state transportation of apple. Sanjeev Gandhi, Shimla SP