TimesView The recent Mandya bus accident has exposed the appalling shoddiness of the process of getting a fitness certificate for vehicles, and how easy it is to beat the system and get a rickety bus running on the road. Though there’s an exhaustive mandated checklist, it remains largely on paper and owners of old vehicles are hoodwinking Road Transport Officers to get this critical document. It’s high time the government expedited the crackdown on RTOs and ensured that vehicles not fit to ply on the roads are grounded permanently. Else, the Mandya accident will be repeated many times across the state.

16 LAKH OUTDATED VEHICLES IN B’LURU

Need of the hour: More automated inspection centres

BENGALURU: Waking up from its slumber after a bus plunged into a canal claiming 30 lives in Mandya district, the transport department has decided to intensify inspections on private vehicles which are over 15 years old.According to the department, 21,096 buses in Karnataka, including 13,125 stage carriages, 442 contract carriages, 1,430 private service vehicles, 4,071 educational institutions and 2,028 others are more than 15 years old. Also, 45.05 lakh of the total 1.9 crore vehicles in Karnataka were more than 15 years old as on March this year.Sources said chief minister HD Kumaraswamy has asked transport officials to conduct raids across the state to check the roadworthiness of buses . “We’ll verify their fitness as well as documents like registration, permit, insurance and pollution-under-control certificate. We’ve decided to intensify special raids across the state and will take stringent action against violators,” said an official.While a proposal of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to ban vehicles over 15 years is gathering dust, Union minister Nitin Gadkari recently said the Centre has almost finalised a policy to scrap old vehicles to curb increasing vehicular pollution.The number of buses that are more than 15 years old is lesser in Bengaluru since BMTC holds the exclusive stage carriage permit as well as better enforcement than in districts. While Fitness Certificates (FCs) for old vehicles is crucial to ply on roads, most owners get it by paying a bribe. The Mandya bus owner has reportedly got the FC by paying a bribe of Rs 2,000 to officials.In Bengaluru, 16.4 lakh of the 74.06 lakh vehicles registered were above 15 years old as on March. Of 16.4 lakh old vehicles, 3,781 are buses that include 750 stage carriages, 77 contract carriages, 584 private service vehicles, 1,996 educational institutions and 374 others.The state has only one automated vehicle inspection and certification centre at Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Another centre will come up in Mysuru in a few weeks. Ideally, every district should have such centres to minimize human interferences and also to ensure a fool-proof mechanism.“We’re planning to set up another centre in Dharwad. We’re unable to increase the number of centres due to shortage of funds and land,” said a transport official.These automated centres will conduct tests on headlights, steering, engine, breaks, PUC, suspensions, engine RPM, gear box, fuel efficiency and wheel conditions.According to the Motor Vehicles Act, it is mandatory for transport vehicles to renew their FCs every year. New vehicles will be issued FCs for two years, following which they should get them renewed annually.