The Hindu : Conservancy lorry runs amok

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 01, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Conservancy lorry runs amok

By N. Ravi Kumar

location> CHENNAI JAN. 31. A Chennai Corporation conservancy lorry ran amuck near the Indian Bank headquarters on the busy Rajaji Salai this evening, but scores of pedestrians and motorists escaped being hit by it.

The lorry was proceeding to the Corporation dumping ground at Kodungaiyur after collecting garbage from Harbour, and the driver is said to have lost control before it ran through the centre median of the road. The lorry, in which two conservancy staffers besides the driver were travelling, came to a halt near a petrol bunk on the other side of the road after knocking down at least four centre median panels.

One of the damaged medians even got entangled to the bottom of the vehicle. Though no one was injured, the incident raised several questions on roadworthiness of the Corporation's fleet of the lorries, some of them being operated without fitness certificates. Many civic body lorries do not even have registration number plates, leave alone lights and indicators, mandated by the Motor Vehicles Act.

The lorry driver was picked up for questioning and sent for medical examination, to determine whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol. There were also contradictory reports about the vehicle being driven by one of the conservancy staffers and the not the driver, at the time of the accident.

Following the accident, traffic was thrown out of gear for sometime.

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