BANGALORE: Speed governors may soon be made mandatory in all transport vehicles in Karnataka from December 1.
Following the horrific fire in the Bangalore-Hyderabad bus near Mahbubnagar in which 45 passengers were burnt alive, the transport department plans to ask all transport vehicles, including goods vehicles, to fix speed-limiting devices. Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy has ruled out extending the Dec 1 deadline.
About the transport lobby's resistance to this, Reddy said the government will get the operators on board. "When cases like Nirbhaya and Savita Halappanavar can make governments change rules, why can't the Mahbhunagar accident bring about changes in the system?" he asked.
The plan has angered the operators. GR Shanmugappa, president, Karnataka Lorry Owners' Association, said it doesn't work well with inter-state vehicles. "Just because of one incident caused by the mistakes of the operator and driver, the government cannot penalize all transport vehicles. The Karnataka government has no power to make it compulsory according to the Motor Vehicles Act, Instead, the transport department should not allow goods to be carried in passenger vehicles," he said.
Shanmugappa claimed that Andhra Pradesh police have booked over 350 cases against Karnataka buses for carrying goods in a passenger bus.
