Heavy vehicles in Dwarka throw caution to the fog

Driving in Dwarka has become a risky affair these days, particularly in the night and early morning hours. In this subcity, a driver has to mitigate not just the treacherous fog but also the callous commercial vehicles that are often without the basic vehicle safety equipment like back lights, reflectors, rear view mirrors and indicators. The possibility of accidents is not mitigated by the fact that the roads, particularly the Master Plan Roads are reasonably wide enough.

In the words of a resident, “The subcity has a 60 kilometre spread of Master Plan roads where heavy commercial vehicles ply around the clock. Infact these heavy vehicles including buses, trucks, tractors and water tankers also run throughout the day on the internal roads. Often these vehicles that are minus backlights take unannounced sharp turns that cause abrupt jolts for the vehicles running behind them. This can obviously also lead to fatal collisions.”

Even the tempos and auto rickshaws are minus back lights, fog lights, head lights and indicators. “Recently I had a narrow escape from a vehicle (I could not decipher whether it was a tractor or tempo because of the blinding fog) that was running ahead of me without a back light,” said Niranjan Thakur, a resident of Sector 5.

So are there no traffic rules that prohibit the running of vehicles without safety equipment? “Yes. This is a sheer violation of the MVA (Motor Vehicle Act),” says Sarita Yadav a resident of Sector 14 who is a road safety activist. In her words, “The intra-city transport vehicles in the subcity are blatantly violating the MVA rule, which is a major concern. Road Number 201 which is a busy road is particularly accident-prone during this season because of this rampant violation by commercial vehicles. The old three-wheelers and Gramin Seva autos that facilitate shared rides for commuters from Kakrola Mor to Palam flyover have compounded the dangerous situation. These vehicles are without indicators and often halt in the middle of the road.”

These public transport vehicles also run on stretches of Sector 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14 and Kakrola. They are a regular spectacle around the metro stations of Sectors 9 and 10, Ambrahi Village, Bagdola Village and throughout Sector 1, Sector 2, Sector 6, Sector 7, Sector 9, Sector 19, Sector 22 and Sector 23. Since the roads are wide these callous vehicles tend to speed and spiral the possibility of accidents further. “Violation of MVA rules by metro feeder buses is also very common. These buses are often running without reflectors. Open CNG cylinder covers, non-functional back lights, damaged bodies and lack of safety belts make them a recipe for road disaster. We expect the metro feeder buses to atleast follow the norms,” said MK Singh a resident of Sector 19.

Speaking on the issue, a traffic official said “Drives against vehicles violating MVA norms are carried frequently in the subcity. Vehicles without back lights, fog lights, etc are prosecuted. Metro feeder buses and other RTVs are often hauled up.”