VASCO: As warned earlier, the members of the newly formed citizens group Mormugao Against Pollution (MAP) afternoon blocked several trucks which were seen plying with overloaded woodchips cargo from MPT, on Tuesday.
As soon as heavy vehicles loaded with woodchips began exiting from MPT after restricted hours, MAP members blocked three such trucks, leading to a heavy traffic jam to and from Mormugao Port as well as on the F L Gomes road. The traffic jam was cleared only after the officials from Regional Transport Office, intervened.
“We warned the State administration demanding action against the dust pollution and plying of over-height as well as overloaded cargo from MPT. Although the 30-day deadline is yet to expire, we had to resort to blockade as no action was taken by the administration to stop the continued plying of overloaded and over-heighted vehicles that pose risk to the safety of people,” advisor to MAP Sankalp Amonkar, said.
“To open the eyes of the officials concerned, today we intimated RTO officials that we would block the trucks that are found plying with over-heighted and overloaded cargo and thereafter, we blocked three trucks,” he added.
He said that the MAP members asked the RTO officials to measure the height of the trucks filled with woodchips, so as to confirm that the concerns and fears of MAP was well founded.
When the RTO officials reached the protest spot and measured the heights of the three blocked trucks, the same were found to be beyond the permissible limit.
“This is just the beginning; we have planned many such agitations until the people of Vasco get pollution free air to breathe. Surprisingly, it was only after our demand the RTO officials measured the height of the trucks and issued challans to violators. The action should have been voluntarily and not after people’s protest,” said Advocate Chetan Palekar, president of MAP.
Meanwhile, taking serious note of plying of over-heighted and overloaded trucks, the RTO officials on Tuesday started a special drive to book the offenders.
A total of 10 such cases were booked on Tuesday alone and the RTO officials have assured that they would continue such drive even in future. “We have already written to MPT to prevent overloading of trucks, however there has been no action on the part of the MPT. Thus we will now book the offenders on daily basis so that the same is stopped automatically,” an RTO inspector told reporters.
