Patna, Oct. 11: Trucks and lorries continue to rule morning roads in the capital defying the Patna High Court directive. These heavy vehicles continue to ply even after 6am.

Senior lawyer M.P. Gupta told The Telegraph: “The high court, after hearing a public interest litigation filed by intervener petitioners in Arun Kumar Mukherjee’s case, had directed the Patna district administration to prevent entry of heavy vehicles into Patna in 1994. Under CWJC 2290/90, the court had said heavy vehicles could not enter the town between 6am and 10pm.”

Gupta added: “Keeping in mind the school timing and safety of children, the order was given. Heavy vehicles continue to ply even after 6 in the morning but the district administration is taking no action against them.”

Sources said during the regime of former senior superintendent of police, Patna, Amit Kumar Jain, the issue had been raised in a meeting between school authorities and the district administration last year. The officials had assured to check such anomalies.

Shivdeep Lande, the city central superintendent of police (SP), said: “Most of the heavy vehicles are exempt from the rule because they carry essential commodities such as petroleum and milk products and other perishable goods. On the other hand, trucks carrying non-essential goods such as building materials are not permitted in the no-entry zone, Patna, from 6am to 10pm. I have no information that they ply on the roads between this restricted period of time. If they do so, they would be penalised.”

Lande, who is also the traffic SP added: “I have brought this to the notice of the administration that if heavy vehicles carrying essential commodities are permitted just for Patna district and not for other districts especially north Bihar, the problem would be reduced to a great extent.”

Children get late for school as these vehicles add to the traffic chaos.

The principal of Gyan Niketan, D.K. Mukherjee, said: “Owing to heavy vehicles plying on the roads, school children face problems. Students turn up late. Not only this, many children reach home at night as they are stuck in the jam (especially in the Bypass area).”

The vice-principal of Radiant International School, Radhika, said: “The trucks create a lot of problems. The overloaded vehicles should not be allowed to ply in the morning. These trucks are not permitted after 6 in the morning but are seen even after 7am.”

A school principal, preferring anonymity, said: “It’s always schoolchildren who suffer. Trucks keep plying on the roads and no one is there to check their movement. This is wrong and it should be checked that trucks do not ply after 6am according to rules and regulations.”

Amar Jaiswal, a guardian, said: “These trucks create problems for students and school buses, especially in the morning. Even while dropping my child at the school in my car at times, I see how the school buses have to struggle to get out of the traffic jam and reach school on time. They get delayed often.”

Rinku Kumar, a Class XI student, said: “We witness overturned trucks resulting in traffic jam. We often get delayed while going to the schools because of this.”