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| An air-testing machine. Picture by UB Photos |
Dec. 7: The Assam transport department will set up automated vehicle-testing centres involving sophisticated equipment in Guwahati in the coming year.
A senior transport official said, “The fitness testing stations which now exist are conducting the tests manually in an arbitrary way. No scientific norms are followed. Hence, there was a need for professional testing to ensure better road safety.”
A Guwahati-based NGO, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES), had earlier in a survey pointed out the high levels of pollution caused by vehicles and that the pollution testing centres were not up to the mark.
The state-of-the-art centres will follow the models of European stations. The automated system will be able to scan all parts of the vehicle and bring the defects to light.
Once the new vehicle testing centres are established, vehicles will undergo around 40 different tests through specialised equipment to check brakes, headlights, pollution levels and steering efficiency among others.
The objective is to make the tests more scientific and curb pollution emission levels, the official said.
According to the state transport department, the estimated cost of the project would be Rs 3 crore. Surat and Hyderabad are two other cities, which have also decided to adopt this method this year.
The centres will monitor the fitness of all commercial vehicles.
“Though for the private vehicles it isn’t mandatory to go to such centres, it is advisable that they go,” he said.
The department will issue the licence for these centres. He said all vehicles have to undergo the fitness tests every year, except for the new ones.
“Currently we are on the lookout for people who are interested in investing in this public-private-partnership project to set up the centres,” he said.
According to the official, the rates for conducting each test would also be fixed by the department. These centres will be placed in various parts of the city, mostly in the busy areas near the truck and bus depot.
“If this system becomes a success in Guwahati, we will later extend the facility to all the districts in the state,” he said.
Commenting on the decision of the transport department to introduce these stations, a traffic police official said, “It is a good idea, if the department actually succeeds in setting up these centres. We appreciate their initiative.”
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