The All Kerala Truck Owners’ Association has invited the attention of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to the alleged inaction by the police and the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) even as overloaded goods carriers have a free run across the State and cause fatal accidents like the one in Thrissur that claimed the lives of two persons on Friday.
The two persons were crushed to death after the rope used to fasten metal sheets to a lorry gave away and the sheets fell on them. A similar incident was reported a month ago from the Seaport-Airport Road in Kochi, when improperly fastened metal frames fell off a vehicle onto the road. “Luckily, no one was injured, and the driver stopped the lorry a little distance away as we alerted him,” said Gokul Dipu, a student of Kerala Media Academy, Kakkanad, who witnessed the incident.
In a petition filed before the VACB, K.A. Anoop and Subin Paul, president and general secretary respectively of the truck owners’ association, cited how transport and MVD officials defaulted in enforcing norms regarding overloading, despite orders from the Kerala High Court. They alleged that mud and granite were often mined in excess of the quantity specified in the permit, which, the High Court said, ought to be treated as theft and penal action taken. They attributed it to an unholy nexus between tipper and lorry operators and enforcement personnel.
