The Meghalaya High Court has observed that Superintendents of Police in all districts should be made aware and appropriately instructed to check, even on physical appearance, the overladen trucks.
Once such a drive is undertaken and some trucks are stopped and not permitted to carry on without relieving the additional load, others may fall in line.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh heard a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Tennydard M. Marak pertaining to the movement of coal in the State. The petitioner says illegally mined coal is transported in heavy vehicles without following the procedure prescribed under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 or the rules thereunder.
Despite several reports filed by the State and the petitioner insisting that little has been done to check the overloading of vehicles along the principal arterial routes in the State, there is no apparent improvement in the situation , the Bench further observed.
From the immediate previous report the Bench noted that there was some 16 or so weighbridges functional in the entirety of the State and that by the end of this month, the number of functional weighbridges would be increased to 23. The State submits that 19 weighbridges are functional and another four are about to be made workable within the next fortnight or so.
“At the same time, it cannot be missed that in several parts of the State, particularly around Pynursla, Shella, Dawki and Nongstoin, vehicles carrying boulders and even sand filled to the brim and more of heavy metalbodied trucks operate brazenly with no checks in place. Even without weighbridges, it is obvious that such vehicles, sometimes bearing no registration plates, do not conform to the weight limits but the local administration, for obvious reasons, turns a Nelson’s eye to the same.”
There are pockets, particularly around Pynursla, where a thousand trucks may be seen to be parked at a time, all meant to carry boulders and even sand to Bangladesh and probably not one of them adhering to the weight norms. Elsewhere overloaded vehicles carry timber. While there may have been some improvement in some of the goods vehicles being covered, one suspects that the cover may more often be to hide the transportation of coal than to ensure safety. Indeed, the overladen vehicles carrying boulders look so dangerous that if they were suddenly to brake, the boulders on top would invariably shower behind and smash any lesser vehicle or kill pedestrians.
The State said that a blueprint has been prepared and that acquiring a set of electronic weigh-pads would set the State back by Rs.27 lakh. However, considering the cost per kilometre of construction of road, the hilly terrain in the State and the almost incessant rain that the State receives for nearly six months, there can be no excuse for not making appropriate investment to check the menace , the Bench said.
“Unfortunately, the State’s action in checking overloaded vehicles has been less than satisfactory and it is hoped that some actual steps would be taken on the ground in such regard and a report filed when the matter appears next four weeks hence. List on May 3, 2023”, the order reads.