Telangana steps up drive, seizes 3,420 vehicles
HYDERABAD: Telangana’s Transport Department has intensified enforcement across the State, booking 4,748 cases and seizing 3,420 vehicles in ten days for violations of transport and road safety rules.
Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who reviewed the drive with senior officials, directed continuous inspections and cautioned authorities against any lapse in monitoring.
Surprise checks across districts
The government has deployed 33 district-level enforcement teams and three State-level flying squads.These teams conduct random checks daily, with inspection points shared at 6 a.m. to prevent advance alerts. Officials have been asked to sustain the drive to ensure compliance by vehicle operators and transport agencies.
Prabhakar said overloaded vehicles contribute significantly to accidents and fatalities. Under revised guidelines, overloaded vehicles will be seized immediately. If the same vehicle is caught again, its permit will be cancelled, and repeated violations will lead to the driver’s licence being revoked.
The Transport Department will work with the Mining Department to curb overloading at loading points rather than acting only after vehicles enter highways.
Refresher training for heavy vehicle drivers
The minister instructed officials to introduce mandatory refresher training for heavy vehicle drivers during licence renewal. He also directed teams to respond promptly to citizen complaints on violations.
Preparations for January Road Safety Month
With Road Safety Month scheduled for January, Prabhakar asked the department to prepare a comprehensive plan focusing on mass awareness and community participation.
Key activities will include awareness sessions in schools and colleges, essay competitions, road safety workshops, street plays and village-level education programmes. Joint initiatives will be organised with drivers, workers, police personnel and transport staff.
The minister said public participation would be crucial to reducing accidents.
To improve operational efficiency, he asked officials to expedite recruitment for vacant posts, complete pending promotions and review enforcement progress every ten days.
Special chief secretary Vikas Raj, TGSRTC managing director Nagireddy, transport commissioner Ilambarathi, and joint transport commissioners Ramesh, Chandrashekar Goud and Shivalingaiah attended the review meeting.
