Jamshedpur: Drive against commercial vehicles, Rs 2 lakhs collected 

Jamshedpur, Nov 29: The district transport department today launched a drive against commercial vehicles which have defaulted in paying road tax and running without valid permits. The drive was conducted at Marine Drive. Rs Two lakhs were collected from five vehicles. The drive also focussed on checking the fitness of pick-up vans used for commercial purpose. It also checked those vehicles having tainted glass and creating air pollution. Officials of district transport office led by the DTO Dinesh Ranjan monitored the drive at both the places. The drive continued for about two hours during which around five vehicles with different anomalies were seized. ” The drive was carried out as per the instructions of the deputy commissioner. Today was the first day of the drive and it will continue further,” said an official.

According to him,  besides generating revenue from the defaulters the drive was aimed at making the roads free from unfit and old vehicles. ” Such vehicles not only create air pollution but also causes congestion on the road,” he said adding that on the first day they collected a revenue of about Rs 2 lakh. The owners  for using old vehicles if they failed to produce the necessary documents pertaining to fitness. We have also penalised five cars used for commercial purpose which were fitted with tainted glass,” he said.

District transport officials informed that the rest of the vehicles were slapped a penalty ranging between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,500 for not having documents related to road permits, insurance and road tax. Once the old and unfit vehicles are off the road traffic congestion will be reduced and vehicular movement would be smooth,” said an official of the transport department. He said that next time they would focus on light commercial vehicles like mini trucks and auto-rickshaws which are the major factor for congestion and air pollution. Statistics reveal that over 18,000 auto-rickshaws operate in steel city while the number of mini-trucks would be around 2,000. “Apart from generating revenue and removing unfit vehicles from road, the drive would also help in checking road mishaps,” said, the district transport officer. He said that similar drive is being conducted at Barsole on Jharkhand-Bengal border, where heavy vehicles are being checked for fitness and other relevant documents.