NEW DELHI/ SHILLONG, July 25: Former Union Minister and Congress MP, Vincent H. Pala on Sunday reiterated that several weighbridges operated by the state government on National Highway 6 in Meghalaya are illegal.
They neither have the mandatory sanction from the Ministry nor follow the guidelines, he said.
Pala had demanded CBI enquiry into the multi-crore illegal practice by the state government itself. He also dismissed state Transport Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar’s claim that all weighbridges in Meghalaya were legal.
A former Congress leader, Dhar joined the National People’s Party and became a Minister in the MDA government. He had countered Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Nitin Gadkari’s statement in Lok Sabha that several weighbridges on NH6 in the state were illegal.
Pala backed Gadkari’s stand and said the state government, through a notification, had authorised the construction of a few weighbridges without permission from the National Highways Authority of India.
“The guidelines of MoRTH say the state government should have taken the NHAI’s nod,” he added.
The state government had signed a tripartite agreement under which no external construction on the highway is allowed without the approval of the NHAI, Pala pointed out. The state government also violated the ministry’s guidelines stipulating a minimum distance of not more than 300 metres between two weighbridges for a hilly state, he said.
Referring to the Meghalaya Weighbridge Policy, 2018, Dhar said the Transport Department is the nodal department for the installation, maintenance and setting up of weighbridges in the state. He said the department invites open tenders to operate the weighbridges at the entry-exit points and at designated locations according to relevant notifications.
The Minister said the state Transport Department is authorised by the Centre to implement the provisions of the CMV Act, 1988. “Section 111 of the CMV Act permits the state government to make rules as required and Rules 113 and 114 permit only the Transport Department to make rules and set up weighbridges in the state for the purposes of carriage of permissible load,” he said, adding that the department will obtain clearance if the Centre says so.
Dhar had said the MoRTH notified the different permissible loads that can be carried by different categories of goods-laden vehicles based on the number of axles and the penalties to be imposed on violators. “The Transport Department, therefore, has identified, tendered for and set up checkpoint-cum-integrated weighbridges on state roads to ensure that permissible load is carried by all goods vehicles that move from the state roads to the national highway,” he said.
Insisting that the state government has been ensuring all goods vehicles carry the permissible load, he said: “The Transport Department while signing agreements with successful tenderers or licensees, ensure that they obtain permission from NHAI whenever required for the operation of the weighbridges.”
The NHAI had earlier expressed its unhappiness with the Meghalaya government for authorising the setting up of a few weighbridges along the Guwahati-Shillong highway without its permission. It is learnt that the NHAI chairman had written to the Chief Secretary earlier this year, seeking his intervention into the matter in vain.
UDP, KHNAM demand inquiry
The United Democratic Party (UDP) has demanded an inquiry into the allegations of illegal weighbridges being run on NH6.
“We have always maintained that we are against any illegality. So, let it be investigated and let it come out in the open,” UDP general secretary Jemino Mawthoh said.
Referring to Dhar’s clarification, the UDP leader said, “The government or the minister in charge can give their own certification. Maybe he is right but we don’t know. We don’t have papers on how the process is running.”
He further said that if the weighbridges are illegal then they should be shut down.
The KHNAM, another ally of the NPP-led MDA, has also sought an investigation. “An inquiry will be the best way to arrive at the truth,” the party’s MLA Adelbert Nongrum said.
“The NPP’s objective is to accumulate funds to strengthen their party in the North East and beyond,” he alleged.
On Saturday, NCP president Samuel Sangma had sought an inquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA, Mayralborn Syiem has sought clarity from the state government on the allegation levelled by the Lok Sabha MP.
“We want a categorical response on whether the Union Minister or the state Transport Minister is lying,” he said.
Enquired if the Congress was also seeking the removal of the Transport Minister, Syiem said, “There are discrepancies in several departments like Power and Home. If we ask for their resignation the government will collapse as most of the departments have failed.”
“We want the government to take cognizance and sacking someone is the prerogative of the chief minister. We hope he does the right thing considering the interest of the people of the state,” the Nongpoh MLA added.
