KOCHI: While the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has launched several road safety projects in the state, the driving simulator installed at the Kakkanad Civil Station has been lying idle for over three years.
The facility was put in place to provide licence seekers with a virtual driving experience without having to negotiate the hostile roads.
The inordinate delay in starting operations has also left the machinery brought from Hyderabad spending Rs 38 lakh rusting, and nearing destruction. The then Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan had inaugurated the project in 2015 with an estimated budget of Rs 60 lakh, including the construction of a building exclusively for the simulator.
While the availability of adequate space was a major issue whenever Kochi was selected for installing the simulator, it was resolved with former District Collector M G Rajamanickam allotting a time-house hall at the Civil Station for the project. Given the huge number of aspirants in various categories, and to avoid questions over the availability of the facility, the department allotted it to heavy vehicle licence seekers for a fee of Rs 200 per head.
However, the department is yet to appoint either an agency or MVD staff to look after the operation of the driving simulator.
“Though the department had launched the project three years ago, questions remained over the person or agency to operate it. Though there was a proposal to constitute a society under the RTO, that too failed to start off. We have already sent the proposal to the government, seeking to launch the project. It is up to the government to take the necessary steps,” said Enforcement RTO K M Shaji, during whose tenure as Ernakulam RTO the project moved into the final stage.
As the original body of a vehicle is used here, the project was envisaged to give the learner a real-time experience of driving. Set up in a hall measuring 800 sq ft in area and 15 ft high, it is equipped with a digital screen, air-conditioned atmosphere and a meeting hall. Currently, MVD has two functional simulators in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
“There are some difficulties now in launching the project. Since the services of the simulator is unavailable in other districts, we are not in a position to implement it in Kochi alone. We will soon take a final decision in this regard. Discussions are on for other districts too,” said Joint Transport Commissioner Rajeev Puthalath.