May 27, 2013
RAWALPINDI: Following the tragedy in Gujrat in which 14 school children and their teacher were burnt to death when their van caught fire (due to a spark in a petrol container), the police on Sunday launched a crackdown on public transport to inspect fitness of vehicles and ensure no petrol containers were present.
Another large scale crackdown, involving the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) which checks route violations and fitness of public transport and the district co-ordination officer (DCO), will be launched on Monday.
When contacted, City Police Officer Abdul Razzaq Cheema said the police on Sunday launched a crackdown for two hours (6pm to 8pm) against the public transporters.
They checked for petrol containers and whether the public transport was technically fit or not.
The CPO said the police, along with the RTA and DCO, would launch another crackdown on Monday to verify registration papers, registration plates, route permits and over-loading.
“If anybody is found violating the law, his vehicle would be impounded and a case will be registered,” the CPO said.
He said the inspector general of police had taken notice of the Gujrat tragedy and directed the police to launch a crackdown in the city. According to police reports, the fire seemed to have started when the driver tried to convert the dual-fuel vehicle from natural gas to gasoline.
The CPO urged transporters to get their vehicles’ fitness certificates before putting their vehicle on the road, as damaged vehicles would not be allowed to ply the roads. —Mohammad Asghar
(Daily Dawn)
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