Shillong:
The Meghalaya High Court has observed that there appeared to be some action taken by the state to control the overloading of goods vehicles plying on the national and state highways in Meghalaya, including vehicles carrying minerals.
Disposing of a PIL on August 23, the division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Judge B Bhattacharjee pointed to the latest report of August 22 filed on behalf of the state by the secretary to the Transport department which indicated that there are, at present, 28 weighbridges at checkpoints notified by the state government and these are operational.
The report further revealed that out of the 28 weighbridges, 24 are under the control of the Transport department and four have been set up by the Mining and Geology department.
The Transport department has placed orders for six weigh-pads out of which two have been received. One of these has been installed at Dalu and the other is being installed at Umtyrnga in Ri Bhoi.
The court stated, “It is hoped that the remaining four weigh-pads are installed within the next six weeks. At any rate, the mere fact that there may be 28 weighbridges and six weigh-pads may not count for anything unless regular and honest checking is undertaken. The several points where the weighbridges and weigh-pads are installed should be monitored by CCTV so that the weights indicated cannot be tampered with or overweight goods vehicles allowed to pass on extraneous considerations.”
In addition, the court stated that the checkpoints should not only check for the weights in vehicles carrying minerals, but the origin and source of the minerals should also be looked into.
The court stated, “It is heartening to note that the State intends to engage the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong for a blueprint to ensure that checkpoints may be put up at strategic places to completely arrest the plying of over-laden goods vehicles.”
In view of the report and in the hope that adequate steps will now be taken to check the menace that the petitioner complained of, the court closed the present petition with liberty to the petitioner to apply afresh in the event the state is found lacking in such regard.