From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, July 22: Congress MP from Meghalaya, Vincent H Pala on Thursday created a sensation in Parliament when he demanded a CBI inquiry into the illegal weighbridges run by the state government on the main national highway in the state causing immense loss to the common people and the exchequer.
Shockingly, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari admitted that there are several illegal weighbridges operating on National Highway 6 in Meghalaya run by the state government. He was replying to a question raised by Pala in the Lok Sabha.
These illegal weighbridges have been collecting lakhs of rupees every day from commercial trucks, pick-up vans and other vehicles carrying goods starting from vegetables to construction materials for years, Pala said. The ill-gotten money is going to the pockets of organised syndicates run by politicians and bureaucrats, he added.
“It is an irony that barring one weighbridge cum check post at Umtyra, five others are not even notified or granted. The neighbouring state of Assam too has five weighbridges run by private parties for which no permission has been given by the Centre,” Gadkari said.
Incidentally, the Union Ministry has already written to the Meghalaya Government to “obtain access permission” for remaining weighbridges, the minister said in his written reply.
The operators of such illegal weighing bridges are collecting about Rs 2,000 from trucks and Rs 500 from smaller vehicles each per trip per day, reports said.
Each such vehicle must pay in all the five illegal weighbridges if it passes through that stretch. Nowadays the operators are also demanding money from the trucks and vans even if they come from the other side of the road, the reports said.
National Highway 6 is a primary national highway in India passing through Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram. The highway links Jorabat, Shillong, Jowai, Badarpur, Panchgram, Kolasib, Kanpui, Aizawl, Seling, Lumtui, Khawthlir, Tuisen, Neihdawn, Champhai and terminates near Zokhawthar on the India/Myanmar border.
The illegal weighbridges have damaged the national highway due to construction work causing blockage of drains/culverts and subsequent traffic disruptions. The Meghalaya Government has been requested several times to rectify all the damages for overall safety of the road users, the Union Minister added.
Pala said that as per the Government rules there cannot be two weighbridges within 300 metres in the hill region which has been blatantly flouted by the state government.
The illegal collections at the weighbridges have caused price rise of all commodities and services in the landlocked region, besides damage to the overloaded trucks, he said.