Jharsuguda, Odisha : As road accidents rise day by day in Jharsuguda district, the district administration spends lakhs of rupees every year to control them through road safety measures. However, road safety awareness campaigns have become mere farce due to Transport Department Negligence. Three-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles are carrying more than the permitted load and openly violating road and transport rules. These vehicles move dangerously in crowded city areas, causing one or more accidents almost daily.
Residents heavily depend on auto-rickshaws to travel to schools, colleges, markets, or hospitals. Earlier, ordinary three-wheeler rickshaws were rare, but now almost everyone relies solely on auto-rickshaws to commute from one place to another. Due to the growing daily demand for auto-rickshaws in the city, some unscrupulous people bring unregistered auto-rickshaws from outside the state and operate them for passenger transport.
For safety, the central government issued a gazette notification in 2018 mandating high-security registration plates (HSRP) on all vehicles. Following this, the state government started implementing HSRP number plates from May 2019. According to the rule, no new vehicle can ply on roads without an HSRP number plate. However, in Jharsuguda, hundreds of vehicles operate without HSRP plates, highlighting Transport Department Negligence.
A few years ago, the district police administration had taken steps to register all auto-rickshaws operating in the city. But due to a lack of coordination between the Regional Transport Department and the Police, some auto drivers reportedly collect fares arbitrarily. The public has expressed dissatisfaction regarding the functioning of the transport department, citing Transport Department Negligence.
