Off the streets: Committee to remove unfit vehicles from the roads

Faulty vehicles will be fined and impounded, says RTA secretary.

KARACHI: If your vehicle is giving you trouble, whether it’s in the form of smoke, faulty lights or a noisy engine, pay your mechanic a visit - before the government impounds your car.

The provincial transport department has formed a six-member committee to examine and curb vehicles which are unfit to ply on the roads. The committee includes representatives from the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, the traffic police, the assistant commissioner, the secretary of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) and the motor vehicles inspector. They stop vehicles, regardless of whether they are private or commercial, on the roadside for inspection at Nipa Chowrangi. This follows a directive from the Sindh High Court telling the provincial transport secretary to form a committee to streamline public and private transport and to give recommendations to amend motor vehicle rules for ascertaining vehicle age limits.

The committee took to the roads on Tuesday, checking vehicles for two hours daily. RTA secretary Manshad Ali Shahani said that the drive would continue indefinitely, until vehicle irregularities are eradicated.

“All relevant departments are involved in our committee, which is why we check both private and commercial vehicles,” he said, adding that they checked everything necessary for a vehicle to run on the roads, including cylinders, smoke, route permits and documents. He said that where they found problems, the police would issue fines and the vehicles were being impounded.

Transport deputy secretary Safdar Hussain Razvi said that the committee findings will be submitted in court, and they would then act in accordance with court orders. “The checks will make a difference to some extent,” said Razvi, adding that although private vehicles were in relatively good condition, more than 70 per cent of public transport vehicles were unfit to run. “You can’t remove public transport from the road entirely, but when the committee puts pressure on them, the transporters will gradually fix their vehicles,” he concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2014.