Jai Prakash Jain, a Gurugram-based advocate, was on way to his native village in Nuh’s Ferozepur Jhirka in his chauffeur-driven Sports Utility Vehicle on June 26 morning when a rashly driven dumper truck hit his vehicle on the right.
Mr. Jain intercepted the offending vehicle with the help of the Police Control Room vehicle after a brief chase. But to his surprise, the dumper truck did not have a registration number plate in the rear and the number in the front was deliberately erased.
The advocate alleged that a majority of the dumper trucks plying on the National Highway 248-A (Gurugram-Alwar) running through Nuh either did not have a registered number plate or the registration number was deliberately painted black to avoid identification in case of any traffic violation and accident. “The fact that these vehicles pass through various police posts in Nuh hints at collusion between them and the police. Who will pay compensation to the victims injured or killed in an accident involving these trucks without registration number plates?” asked Mr. Jain.
Though Mr. Jain and his driver Satish were lucky to have escaped unhurt, Abdul Gaffar, an accountant at Al-Afia Hospital in Nuh’s Mandikhera, sustained head and leg injuries in a similar accident on June 23. In his case too, the speeding truck did not have a registration number plate in the rear.
Mr. Gaffar was on his way to Badkali Chowk on a motorcycle when a dumper truck hit him near the traffic police station and sped away. “The police team carrying out routine vehicle check near the spot gave a chase to the truck, but it escaped. The police told me that it did not have a registration number plate in the rear,” said the 32-year-old.
Mr. Gaffar, a resident of Nuh’s Santhawari village, said dumper trucks plying on National Highway 248-A without registration number plates was a common sight. And some of the truck drivers had grease smeared on the number plate. Most of these trucks were involved in transportation of construction material, such as stones, from the mining sites in Nuh and Rajasthan.
Mewat RTI Manch convenor Rajuddin Meo, spearheading the campaign to widen the NH-248A for more than a decade now, said the traffic volume on the road had gone up several times but the road was not widened to accommodate it leading to accidents. He said the overloaded, speeding dumper trucks plying without registration number plates had made the things worse. “It seems as if they have no fear of law,” said Mr. Meo.
Varun Singla, Superintendent of Police, Nuh, claimed the local police had curbed the menace of overloaded dumper trucks without registration number plates to a large extent over the past eight months since he was posted in the district. “Contrary to the general perception, not all accidents are caused by these dumper trucks. But the police have cracked down on them heavily. We do not just issue challans to these trucks for violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, but also inform the Regional Transport Office and the Mining department officials for any legal action required on their part as well,” said Mr. Singla.
He added that 50 check points were set up and closed-circuit television cameras were installed at 22 junctions to check violations by the vehicles in the district, including the NH-248A. Mr. Singla said the district earlier had only one traffic police station, and now one more traffic police station was established.
The Nuh Police have issued 754 challans to vehicles without registration number plates till June 30 this year compared to 811 challans issued last year. Similarly, 2,388 vehicles have been challaned for plying without High Security Registration Number Plate this year so far compared with 3,752 last year. “The number of vehicles challaned for the two violations during the first six months this year is almost at par with the figures for the entire last year. It shows the strict enforcement of the law and crackdown on such vehicles,” said Mr. Singla.
