Govt finally regulate protrude trucks

The road transport ministry will soon make it mandatory for all goods vehicles (Trucks) to have their cargo like city waste covered so that none of the items they carry either protrude from the vehicles or fall out. The norm will also specify that any vehicle caught violating the norm won’t be allowed to do so unless such items are transferred to another vehicle that comply with the rules.

Despite the Supreme Court order and government banning vehicles from carrying rods, pipes or any protruding material beyond the body frame, this norm is being violated openly because of poor enforcement. One can often find vehicles carrying loose materials such as sand and loose earth without proper cover and as a result these materials fall out of the vehicles.

“Only imposing fine does not serve the purpose since the menace returns on to the road as soon as the vehicle is back on the road. So, the rule will specify that the operator has to make alternate arrangement to transfer the items to a covered vehicle, else the vehicle will stand there for days. That will hit their business and people will mend their behaviour,” said road transport secretary Y S Malik while addressing an event on safe roads by industry body Assocham.

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said that his ministry will come out with policy making it mandatory for trucks to cover the loose items (pre-cover arrangement) they carry to check air pollution in urban areas. Most municipal bodies don’t deploy fully covered vehicles to transport garbage in urban areas and these often becomes a nuisance.

“The only solution to the menace is not to allow the vehicle to ply and the legal provisions have to be strict. We will have the rule in place in next one month,” said an official. Meanwhile, NHAI and Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) have signed an MoU to ensure adequate supply of sand for road construction. DCI, which is looking for dredging at various south-east Asian sites, will ensure supplies in the domestic market. As per the MoU, business intermediaries will ship and store this sand at various ports in India and market it within the country, a statement said.