A day after another garbage truck was involved in an accident that claimed the life of a 40-year-old woman, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to ensure that all garbage vehicles in its fleet and those belonging to the contractors are certified by the Transport Department. In the last month alone, there have been three fatal accidents involving garbage trucks.
Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta on Tuesday said that this was among the slew of measures to be put in place to ensure such accidents do not recur.
Marshals had been entrusted with the additional responsibility of checking the drivers of garbage vehicles, both those with the BBMP and those under the contractors, at the ward mustering points every day.
Additional training will be provided to drivers if required irrespective of whether they are directly under the BBMP or not.
Older vehicles will be allowed to ply only if they have a fitness certificate issued by the Regional Transport Officer concerned. “In the new garbage tenders that will be floated shortly, we are going to introduce a clause stating that only new vehicles should be in the fleet. Until the new tenders are floated and finalised, contractors will have to ensure that all existing vehicles have a valid fitness certificate. If the fitness certificate is not valid, we will initiate stringent action against the contractor concerned,” he said and added that civic officials had been directed to also take up random checks.
Earlier this month, a 60-year-old farmer who was riding a bike was knocked down by a speeding truck in Bagalur. On March 21, a 14-year-old Class IX student was killed while a biker and another woman pedestrian were injured when a speeding garbage truck knocked them down in Hebbal.
Acknowledging that drivers tend to speed near flyovers and major junctions, the BBMP is raising the height of medians to deter pedestrians from crossing the road.
However, Akshaya was killed and the others injured as they were unable to use an underpass that was inundated with rainwater, and were forced to cross the busy road.
Mr. Gupta said the civic body is also working towards improving pedestrian infrastructure. “Several road safety measures have been taken by the BBMP in coordination with the traffic police and transport department,”said Mr. Gupta.
