The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : TNCSC to monitor 80 trucks

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Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

TNCSC to monitor 80 trucks

N. Anand

40 trucks in Tiruvallur region and 15 in Krishnagiri fitted with GPS
With the help of a device in cabinet, movement of trucks can be traced

CHENNAI: From March 1, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) will monitor 80 trucks plying near the border regions of the State on a real time basis to avoid pilferage of essential commodities that are being transported from Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns to its own godowns.

On Friday, all the 40 trucks attached to the Tiruvallur region of the corporation and 15 trucks of the Krishnagiri region were fitted with the Global Positioning System.

In the next two-three days, the remaining 25 trucks in the Krishnagiri region will be covered. “These two regions have been selected as they are adjacent to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka respectively. The trial run will begin on March 1. After receiving the feedback, we will try it out in other regions,” TNCSC Managing Director K. Phanindra Reddy told The Hindu on Monday.

Currently, a small device has been fitted inside the cabinet of each truck. The device carries a small chip. Roads and districts have already been mapped.

With the help of the chip, the movement of the trucks can be traced on a 30 seconds basis. At the first glance, the device might not be visible, and even the driver might not be aware that he is being constantly monitored—at the district and State levels.

Over two years, the corporation will spend Rs. 15 lakh on the equipment and manpower.

“Though there were instances of pilferage at these places, these trucks do not belong to our godowns. Moreover, the drivers are not willing to spill the beans. Using the Geographic Information System, we will know instantly if there is any deviation, delay, breakdown or stoppage of vehicle at any point of time,” he said.

BSNL SIM card

The Corporation is also toying with the idea of using Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s SIM card to monitor the movement of trucks.

Since most of the drivers are using cellular phones, the corporation has to just instruct them to switch over to BSNL. Though, it is a cost-effective method, the corporation will take a decision after testing the present system for a week.

“Pilferage comes down”

“Besides, we are using the handheld phones to send SMS from FCI godowns to our godowns and vice versa while transporting commodities. We have been comparing the number of SMS sent and received per day. After the introduction of the new system, the pilferage has come down drastically. We will continue with this system, too, for some more time,” Mr. Reddy said.

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