Karnataka - Mangalore   

KRV protests RTO ‘neglect’

MANGALORE: The Regional Transport Office here was out of -bounds to people for nearly an hour on Wednesday as activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike staged a dharna in front of it.

They were protesting against the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the authorities regarding regulating the movement of lorries carrying iron ore and manganese, and the resultant problems faced by people on account of lorry traffic on National Highways 17 and 48.

The chief district convener of the vedike, Annayya Kulal, said repeated pleas to the district administration to regulate the movement of the lorries had gone unheeded. Referring to a memorandum submitted to Deputy Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao on July 10, Mr. Kulal said the administration had not taken any action on it so far. Ore transporting lorries were endangering the lives of road users, he added.

Mr. Kulal said the district administration should immediately intervene and prevent the movement of all lorries from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Noting that some lorries were not displaying their registration plates, Mr. Kulal said others were transporting ore without covering it with a tarpaulin.

He also alleged that in most other cases, drivers were asking cleaners to take charge of the wheel, making the roads unsafe for travel.

The protesters at one stage insisted that RTO D. Sadashiva, who was away on official work, come and make known the steps taken by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to regulate lorry movement. Subsequently, the activists presented a memorandum to Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) S.B. Surendrappa, who said he would apprise Mr. Sadashiva of their demands. The ARTO also promised that the RTA would act on the list of demands given by the vedike.

President of the unit Shashidhar Shetty said if the authorities failed to take corrective steps to solve their problems within the next 10 days, the vedike activists would resort to guerrilla warfare and ambush lorries operating along the national highways. “The district administration will be held solely responsible for the resultant law and order problems,” he said and demanded that Mr. Rao, the police and the RTO take steps to stop the menace. To a claim from the activists that Mr. Rao had issued orders banning the movement of ore-carrying lorries from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mr. Surendrappa said he would recheck with Mr. Sadashiva if the Deputy Commissioner had issued such orders.

Mr. Rao, however, told The Hindu that the district administration would consider regulating lorry movement after discussing with the neighbouring district administration.

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