GUWAHATI, JULY 22: Following complaints from commuters, the Transport Department conducted an intensified drive to check if city buses are following road safety and other norms.
In the wake of complaints from commuters about misdemeanours and other offences committed by drivers and conductors, an intensive drive was conducted by DTOs and enforcement officials in the city buses on different routes in the past three days.
The primary objective was to ensure that motor vehicle rules, permit conditions and road safety norms are being followed and the drivers and conductors of the city buses behave politely with the commuters.
Officials disclosed that altogether 20 numbers of cases were registered against the city buses for various offences and 31 numbers of buses were seized.
“Challans were issued to owners of 20 city buses during the three-day-long drive,” said Rafiqul Islam, DTO cum Secretary, Regional Transport Authority.
Clad in plainclothes, the DTOs and enforcement officials hopped from one city bus to another to book the offences committed with impunity by the bus drivers and conductors.
Some of the offences committed for which challans were issued to the city bus owners included non issuance of ticket, boarding through front door, doors flung open while running, haphazard parking on stoppages, non display of route number, permit number, route diversion, waiting at a stoppage for more than a minute, rash overtaking, undue halt on non designated stoppage and misbehaving with passengers. It is worth noting that there are 22 set of rules for the bus drivers and conductors to abide to. The Gauhati High Court has also passed directions in this regard. “Violation of any rule will not only result in imposition of penalty but also suspension or cancellation of permit,” said Himangshu Das, DTO (enforcement).
It is learnt that the transport department officials are planning to launch a drive against traffic violations including not wearing helmets, not using seat-belts, over-speeding, overloading, rash driving and vehicles plying without valid fitness certificates.