Although the State government had sanctioned an automated test driving track to Udupi to test the driving skills of drivers four years ago, the project has not taken off.
A land of five acres was provided for the automated test track at Pragati Nagar in Alevoor near here. After the announcement of the automated test driving track in the State budget in 2015-16, an amount of ₹64 lakh was released. This amount was used for the construction of a compound wall around the five acres.
Ramakrishna Rai, Regional Transport Officer, told The Hindu that the Construction Cell of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, took up the work of construction of the automated track at a cost of ₹10.78 crore.
The project included ₹6.5 crore for construction of the track, ₹3.5 crore for installation of electronic sensors on it and ₹78 lakh for civil works for fixing these devices. But when the work on the track was to begin last year, the Forest Department objected to felling of trees in the five acre area stating that it fell under deemed forest, he said.
After this, the Forest Department in Bengaluru sought clarifications and suggested that an alternative land be chosen for the test track. The Regional Transport Office then wrote to the Udupi tahsildar and the latter said that there was no alternative land. It then wrote to the Deputy Commissioner seeking alternative land.
For the last six years, the driving skills of the applicants for driving licences and learners licences for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four wheelers and other vehicles are being tested by inspectors of the Regional Transport Department on an 800-metre long road in front of the RTO.
But an automated test track will have sensors to record even small mistakes of the applicants and is better than manual testing. The skills of nearly 180 applicants each for driving licence and learners’ licence is tested daily at the RTO.
Meanwhile, G. Jagadeesha, Deputy Commissioner, told ‘The Hindu that he would call a meeting of the officers concerned, study the matter and take a decision expeditiously.
