The Union Government is yet to give its consent on the State Government’s proposal to extend the October 31 deadline for all commercial vehicles to be equipped with speed governors. Earlier this month, the State Transport Department requested the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry to extend its October 31 deadline for installation of speed governors in all commercial vehicles till March 2017 citing inadequate supply of the devices.
“There is dearth of speed governor devices. So, we can’t comply with the Centre’s guidelines. We requested the Centre to extend the deadline to March 2017. But we are yet to get any response,” said Commerce and Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi.
Transport Secretary Sanjay Rastogi in a letter to the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry urged it to extend the deadline.
“We engaged 10 private agencies to sell speed governors across the state. But we found the manufacturers were unable to supply adequate number of devices. The dealers also lack skilled manpower to fit the devices in vehicles. In view of the difficulty, it is not possible to equip all vehicles with speed governors in the stipulated time. I request you to extend the deadline to March 2017," read the letter to the Union Ministry. The speed governors are aimed at preventing vehicles to accelerate speed beyond the specific limit. As per the existing rules, buses and trucks that cause maximum accidents can drive at a maximum speed of 80 kmph
while school buses and vehicles cannot overshoot the speed limit of 60 kmph.