Vehicle overloading continues in Doda

Our Correspondent

Doda, December 18

Despite strict action against traffic offenders, overloading of passenger vehicles continues unabated in Doda district.

The police on Monday seized a tempo on the Dhara-Gundana road as it was ferrying students on the top of the vehicle. Its picture soon went viral on the social media, forcing the authorities to take action against the errant driver.

“To earn more, tempo and taxi drivers and minibus operators are violating traffic norms and accommodating more passengers than the capacity in the vehicles, especially on the link roads of Doda,” a local resident said.

“Overloading is a serious issue and we have seized a tempo on the Dhara-Gundana road. Students were sitting atop a vehicle. Not only an FIR was registered against the driver, we have also recommended cancellation of his licence,” said Zoheib Patigaroo, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Doda-Kishtwar.

The traffic police have also changed their strategy in Doda and Kishtwar for tackling the traffic offenders. “Earlier, our main focus was to challan the vehicles, but now we are taking strict legal action. In three months, we have registered 25 FIRs against drivers. We have also recommended for the cancellation of licences in many cases,” an officer said.

“Due to the poor drainage in the Naib Basti area on the Doda-Thathri highway, three accidents took place on Monday, including two head-on collisions. Fortunately, no one was injured seriously. We have also asked the authorities to repair the stretch.” the officer said.