RTA cracks down on overloading, illegal mining

The regional transport authority (RTA) of Gurugram has started penalising truckers for overloading mined stones in their trucks and dumpers. In a new initiative,

The regional transport authority (RTA) of Gurugram has started penalising truckers for overloading mined stones in their trucks and dumpers. In a new initiative, the RTA officials have started the practice of offloading the excess mining stone, which is beyond the sanctioned load, and suspending the licence of truck drivers for three months, besides issuing penalties.

HT Image

Officials said that they have started imposing a fine of Rs 80,000 per truck for overloading, over the last two months. Officials said that earlier, truckers were let go after being penalised for overloading. However, the RTA has now started taking stringent action as overloading often leads to accidents on the expressways around the city.

Most of the trucks, from Rajasthan districts, Tauru and Nuh, reach Gurugram through Mahendragarh, Nuh and Faridabad, and most of them are laden with illegally mined stones and stone chips from stone crushers in Faridabad, said officials.

Shatrujeet Kapur, the principal secretary of the transport department of Haryana, had recently conducted a meeting of all RTAs in the National Capital Region on overloading and directed them to take stringent action on the issue. In the last two months, the Gurugram RTA has issued fines amounting to around Rs 2.75 crore, the highest among Haryana districts.

“For last two months, we have been acting against overloading aggressively and fines of around Rs 2.75 crore have been collected, which is highest for any district across the state,” said Dhaarna Yadav, secretary, RTA, Gurugram.

She said that besides levying financial penalties, drivers have also started facing strict action.

Elaborating on the process, she said that fines for overloading have failed to act as a deterrent. “We have started penalising the truck owners and have started suspending the licence of truck drivers for three months. We are offloading the excess item at the spot and the transporter has to bring in another truck to carry those items. With the help of a gas cutter, we are cutting the extra body of the truck, as per the specification under Motor Vehicles Act,” said Yadav, adding that the objective is to discourage transporters and drivers from overloading and illegal mining.

The police also said that illegal mining operations have been taking place in the Aravallis for over two decades. In November 2019, IPS officer Amitabh Singh Dhillon, who is also the director general of mines and geology department of Haryana, had put together a special enforcement team to crack down on illegal mining in the Aravallis.

The state was divided into two parts and two police officials were given charge of each. While the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Rajesh Phogat has been given the charge of the Sonepat region, ACP Preet Pal Sangwan is in charge of curbing illegal mining in Gurugram and Nuh.

The police said there are five villages in the Tauru belt that are under the scanner. The teams deployed in the area said families have trained women and children to surround police teams during raids to create an opportunity for illegal acts.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that locals, including women, block the road and lie down with children to stop police from entering the village. The police have deployed 25 teams in 14 districts for monitoring illegal mining activities in south Haryana.

The state has collected a total fine of Rs 60 crore since December 2019 from truckers. A total of 3,500 vehicles, including tippers, trucks, tractor-trolleys and earthmovers, have been seized by the police between December 2019 and December 23, 2020. This number also includes 88 vehicles seized in December from Gurugram and 1,235 across South Haryana.

Sangwan said that during the anti-mining operations, several police officers have been attacked by truck drivers ferrying illegal material and more than 50 police vehicles have been damaged. Over four dozen cases of attempted murder have been registered against such drivers over the last six months, said the police.

The National Green Tribunal(NGT) in 2019 had ordered that all confiscated vehicles be released only after recovery of at least 50% of the showroom value of such vehicles. “Besides, the confiscated vehicle owner will also have to pay a royalty fee, the value of the mineral loaded on the vehicles, along with Rs 10,000 fine, for the vehicle to be released,” said Sangwan, adding that the state has also been suffering severe revenue losses because of the illegal mining activity.