January 5: Lorry and tanker owners in the city have criticised the state government's special "safety drive" launched on Monday to keep a check on overloaded goods vehicles.Goods vehicles will face stiff penalties if found overloaded while moving into or moving out of Mumbai under the new programme to check increasing number of accidents involving transport vehicles in the state. However, the parameters of judging the "excess" load are not clear.Leading operators feel that the move would result in additional financial burden on the transport industry and harassment of transporters by the implementing agency. He demanded a subsidy to the industry which, he said, suffers from heavy liabilities due to cut-throat competition.Inder Singh of Liberty Carriers, transporters of liquified petroleum products, feels the state should instead stop the practice of allowing a load of 14,000 litres per tanker by the state-owned oil companies like Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum among others. This load exceeds the limits set by the transport authorities. "Why should we face the music for the fault of the oil companies?" he asked.Singh argued, "No tanker is underloaded if the specific quantity of liquid is filled according to the standard calibration".Another trucker Tanaji Shinde, who owns three tankers of 12,000 litres capacity, questioned the state government's definition of "overloading" in tankers and other goods vehicles. He explained, "Different liquids have varied densities hence different weights. By just looking at a vehicle, one cannot ascertain if it is overloaded or empty." Daljit Singh Bal, president of the Maharashtra Tank Lorry Owners' Association claimed that the transport authorities do not accept the weight to density relation of liquid petroleum products.He warned that if a tanker is loaded according to government specifications, the hazard of an accident is greater because the liquid load tends to tip the vehicle during motion. Bal said foreign cargo pose a different problem. "They come in sealed containers which transporters cannot open and remove the excess material."The association has flayed the safety drive stating that "it is a tall order by the government in a country where there are no weigh bridges for hundreds of kilometres and fining transporters with stiff penalties like suspension of permit or harassing them at entry and exit points to the state is no way for a permanent solution."When contacted, transport department officials refused to comment on the issue saying, "it is the state government's problem."
