Mangaluru: Shivaraj Patil, Joint Commissioner of Transport Department, on November 30 directed RTO officials to remove boards fixed as “Government of India” on the vehicles of bank officers, National Insurance Company representatives and other institution heads, through a special drive in the city.
Addressing the complaints in “Transport Adalat” held at the RTO office here on Thursday, Patil said, “As per the Motor Vehicle Act, there is no provision to fix such boards on their vehicles. The court has asked VIPs to remove the beacon lights from their cars.”
Activist Gopal Krishna Bhat presented before the Adalat that several cars in the city, are using the tinted glass despite the Supreme Court’s orders and several motorists do not posses insurance for their bikes. He urged the RTO along with the police department to take stringent action against this.
In reply to Gopal Krishna Bhat’s complaint, the joint commissioner said, “The RTO has the power to seize such vehicles and we have already done so in other places.” The commissioner also assured that proper action would be taken in this regard.
On the complaint that buses should display names of destinations in Kannada on the destination board, the joint commissioner said that Kannada should be given first priority. Using Kannada language on destination boards is one of the conditions in the permit. Using other languages is an option. Bus owners should follow this, he added.
Environment activist B S Hasanabba Amenable said that all private buses should possess first aid kits. The buses which have been running for nearly 15 years should be taken off the roads, he suggested.
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike leader Arun also said that the autos from the outskirts of the city were running within the city without the permit.
RTO G S Hegde and ACP Traffic Manjunath Shetty were present.
