TENKASI: Alangulam police on Tuesday conducted a vehicle check on overloaded trucks heading towards Kerala with tonnes of minerals, quarried in various parts of Tenkasi and Tirunelveli districts. This was done after activists and functionaries of different political parties petitioned the State government against the illegal quarrying of minerals and overloaded trucks.
Police said, they caught hold of around 15 overloaded trucks by 12 pm and imposed a penalty of Rs 34,000 on the owners. However, the activists said the police failed to follow the provisions of the amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, 1988.
Former two-time MLA K Raviarunan told TNIE that the police are allowing the overloaded trucks to Kerala to proceed further after imposing a penalty. "As per Section 194 of the amended MV Act, the police should have imposed a penalty of Rs 20,000 and an additional amount of Rs 2000 per tonne for the excess load on each of the violating trucks. Also, they should not allow the trucks to leave without removing the excess load as per the Act. Imposing a mere penalty of Rs 2,000 on those trucks and allowing them to proceed further will not stop the practice of overloading which almost damaged all major roads of the district and water pipelines laid under Combined Water Supply Schemes," he added.
West District Secretary of Naam Tamilar Katchi S Arun Sankar said apart from the police, the officials of the Regional Transport Office and Mines department should also do their duty. The trucks that were stopped by the Alangulam police were laden with a mixture of blue metal and m-sand.
The truck drivers said they are transporting the minerals for constructing roads in Kerala.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police R Krishnaraj told TNIE that the Courtallam and Puliyarai police who have been provided with a weighing facility are imposing a huge amount of penalty against the overloading vehicles.
"The penalty amount that was imposed by them was around `21 lakh in the recent month. When the police are collecting the fine from the truck drivers, the E-challan machine is automatically creating a receipt for the old penalty that was in effect before the amendment of MV Act," he added.
Due to the checking, traffic was congested along the road during morning hours, sources said.