Overloaded vehicles to face the music on NHs
The govt plans to install weigh-in-motion bridges at selected points of the highways which would weigh the vehicle while it is in motion. Save on fuel bills, the smart way
By Nirbhay Kumar & Subhash Narayan, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Transporters will now find it difficult to run overloaded vehicles on national highways. The government plans to install weigh-in-motion bridges at selected points of the highways across the country.
The bridges would weigh the vehicle while it is in motion thereupon facilitating highway authorities to slap penalties on the erring vehicles with loads more than permitted by law.
The government has also proposed to set up warehouses and unloading facilities near these bridges so that the extra loads on the vehicle could be unloaded and stored. The vehicle owner would have to pay the storage charge for the goods stored in the warehouses till the time proper transportation is arranged.
“The weigh-in-motion bridges have been proposed with the aim of preventing overloading of vehicles on highways. This not only creates traffic snarls but also causes wide scale damage to roads. The new facility would reduce congestion on highways that is often caused due to long stoppage of vehicles for compounding offences related to overloading,” an official source said.
At present, excess load on highways attracts compounding of offence by levying of a compounding fee. However, in most instances vehicles, are let off after the payment of penalty.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had held that levying of fine without offloading excess load is illegal. The new weigh-motion bridges would hasten the process of identifying overloaded vehicles. It would be put up at selected points on national highways, inter-state check points and industrial areas.
The new proposals have also been included in the draft 11th Plan that would be put up before the National Development Council headed by the prime minister Manmohan Singh on December 9.
Moreover, the proposed unloading and warehousing facilities would mean that vehicles would not be allowed to go after being penalised. Overload would be offloaded and released only after proper arrangement for its transportation is made.
To deter overloading, the government has also introduced a new Motor Vehicle Bill, 2007, which proposes to extend the definition of overloading offences. It has proposed that violation would not only lead to the impounding of the vehicle but would also make the consignor liable and the vehicle owner responsible for overloading.
The bridges would weigh the vehicle while it is in motion thereupon facilitating highway authorities to slap penalties on the erring vehicles with loads more than permitted by law.
The government has also proposed to set up warehouses and unloading facilities near these bridges so that the extra loads on the vehicle could be unloaded and stored. The vehicle owner would have to pay the storage charge for the goods stored in the warehouses till the time proper transportation is arranged.
“The weigh-in-motion bridges have been proposed with the aim of preventing overloading of vehicles on highways. This not only creates traffic snarls but also causes wide scale damage to roads. The new facility would reduce congestion on highways that is often caused due to long stoppage of vehicles for compounding offences related to overloading,” an official source said.
At present, excess load on highways attracts compounding of offence by levying of a compounding fee. However, in most instances vehicles, are let off after the payment of penalty.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had held that levying of fine without offloading excess load is illegal. The new weigh-motion bridges would hasten the process of identifying overloaded vehicles. It would be put up at selected points on national highways, inter-state check points and industrial areas.
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The new proposals have also been included in the draft 11th Plan that would be put up before the National Development Council headed by the prime minister Manmohan Singh on December 9.
Moreover, the proposed unloading and warehousing facilities would mean that vehicles would not be allowed to go after being penalised. Overload would be offloaded and released only after proper arrangement for its transportation is made.
To deter overloading, the government has also introduced a new Motor Vehicle Bill, 2007, which proposes to extend the definition of overloading offences. It has proposed that violation would not only lead to the impounding of the vehicle but would also make the consignor liable and the vehicle owner responsible for overloading.
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