TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: In a major decision and keeping the safety of students in mind, the South India Transport Council (SITC) has resolved that the age of school buses should not cross eight years. However their decision to scrap all vehicles which are more than 15 years old may create heartburn among bus and vehicle owners as well.
The unanimous resolution was passed during the 21st SITC meeting held in Goa on Thursday and Friday. SITC, an association of transport ministers, secretaries, commissioners and officials, has seven South Indian states as members – Goa, Maharashtra, TN, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana and Puducherry.
The resolution comes a day after a National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi, order that diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old should be taken off the road in the national capital.
“We have observed that there are a lot of vehicles which are plying on the road which are very old. There are vehicles used by educational institutions which are old and very dangerous to the students,” SITC Secretary R Sreelekha told reporters at the end of two-day conference.
Sreelekha said SITC has unanimously resolved to recommend to the Union government to fix the age of vehicles. “The vehicles used for educational institution should not be more than eight years old. After eight years, those vehicles can be used for regular public transportation. Also the vehicles whose life span has been 15 yrs should be scrapped, to reduce pollution and the risk of accidents,” the IPS officer said.
The meeting which was inaugurated by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari discussed several bi-lateral issues concerning south Indian states.
The council has also resolved to regulate the web or app-based taxi services in their respective States to control their operations, by bringing them under the preview of Motor Vehicle Act.
SITC has also decided to sign a maximum number of bi-lateral agreements among the States for smooth movement of goods and passenger vehicles. It has also been decided to make necessary amendments to the act, thereby allowing handicapped persons to modify the vehicles as per their requirements.
SITC has also decided to form a committee of its members that will meet the Union Minister and raise their apprehension clause by clause about the proposed draft Road Safety and Transport Bill 2015, which is in its final stages.
