BHUBANESWAR: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has expressed concern over low coverage of pollution under control certificate (PUCC) and other road safety measures in Odisha.
At the Transport Development Council (TDC) meeting that ended in New Delhi on Thursday, the ministry advised the state government to further strengthen implementation of vehicle location tracking devices (VLTD) and high security registration plates (HSRP).
Massive rush is being witnessed at the pollution testing centres after the State Transport Authority (STA) issued a strict directive to all oil marketing companies to deny fuel to vehicles operating without a valid PUCC.
Sources said while PUCC of around 60 lakh vehicles has not been renewed, close to 20 lakh vehicle owners have never applied for the certificate after buying the vehicles. PUCC is not required for one year from the date of registration of a new vehicle.
In a statement, the Commerce and Transport department said the state has taken note of the observations of MoRTH and is committed to intensified enforcement and awareness measures. The MoRTH has, however, included Odisha in the high-level committee of secretaries constituted to frame and fine-tune pan-India transport rules and amendments.
These include reforms relating to automated testing stations, permit reforms, licence de-duplication and amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act and Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
Principal secretary of Commerce and Transport department Usha Padhee attended the meeting along with Transport commissioner Amitabh Thakur as part of the Odisha delegation. She presented Odisha’s overall transport and road safety scenario and highlighted the state’s pioneering initiatives in road safety, digital transport governance, driver training and technology-enabled enforcement.
Odisha reported 100 per cent readiness for the rollout of PM-RAHAT, the cashless treatment scheme for road accident victims providing coverage up to `1.5 lakh. The state has become the first in the country to achieve two-way integration of e-DAR and CCTNS. Although the state qualifies for two institutes of driving training and research (IDTRs) under the centrally-sponsored scheme, it has already established four IDTRs. MoRTH described these IDTRs as among the best in the country and indicated that additional centres may be considered in future.
Odisha’s progress in faceless and visit-less transport services was also appreciated, with 34 out of 38 Aadhaar-linked services already operational. The state’s compliance under the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernisation Programme (VVMP) was commended.