Overloaded trucks flout norms, authorities turn blind eye

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, December 1

Overloaded trucks carrying stone, sand, cement, steel and building material are causing extensive damage to roads in Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur. The recently re-carpeted roads in these area have developed big potholes.

The trucks and tippers carry load more than the prescribed limit of 15 tonne, causing damage to roads, small culverts and bridges. The police and the transport authorities have failed to initiate any action in this regard.

In the Palampur region alone, more than 200 trucks daily lift building material such as stone, grit, ‘bajri’ and sand from 30 stone crushers. They openly flout the provisions of the MV Act carrying 20 to 30 tonne of load in the absence of any check.

The Public Works Department has been incurring a loss of Rs 500 crore every year due to the plying of overloaded trucks in the region.

A senior PWD official accused the traffic police and the Transport Department of failing to check the menace.

He said roads in the Jaisinghpur area were recently repaired, but these had developed big potholes.

“It is not possible for the PWD to repair the roads time and again. The administration, especially the Superintendent of Police, should intervene and save the roads from further damage,” said the PWD official.

The official said more than 90 per cent of the trucks had been carrying goods weighing more than the prescribed limit, resulting in serious damage to roads, culverts and bridges on the highways.

State roads were not designed for such a heavy load, the official added.

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