Vehicle Testing Centre gets stuck in legal limbo

Hyderabad: The first-of-its-kind in the State the Advanced Vehicle Testing Centre that was being constructed at Choutuppal has hit a roadblock because of the stay issued by the court asking the department not to take up any work until further orders.

The Transport department in association with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposed one-of-its- kind facility in the State for testing the fitness of the vehicles.

This was proposed for eliminating human interference and curbing the irregularities during the vehicle fitness check.

The project was conceived in the year 2011 when Centre sanctioned Rs 14.4 crore for setting up the centre at Choutuppal in Nalgonda district now Yadadri-Bhongir district.

According to a senior official in the department, this system would be foolproof as entire process would be mechanised and the results would be accurate.

The centre would test everything right from thickness of tyres to steering, break, wheel alignment, wheel balancing, glass alignment, pollution check.

Each vehicle to get the tests done within 20 to 25 minutes and the system can test 300 odd vehicles per day. Necessary machinery is being imported from Spain and Sweden.

However, even after nine years the system could not be in place for various reasons.

First the delay was because of the lack of coordination between the Centre and the State government and later works began but it could not get completed.

Sources said that recently the court asked the department not undertake any works until further orders are issued.

Sources said that the land on which the centre was being set up belonged to the mining department.

The individual who is said to be having mining licence had approached the court to direct the department not to construct at the centre there.

The individual had approached the court in 2013 and got a stay. However, there was no information to the department about the legal issues.

The individual again filed a contempt case against the department for not following the directions of the court, said a senior official.

The official said that the there was no Yadadri district when the individual filed case in 2013.

With court asking the district authorities to stop the work, the officials have followed the directions, said the official.

Almost 95 per cent works were completed and only the compound walls were to be being constructed and machines were to be placed as the final step.

However, with the court's direction, the officials have stopped the work, said the official.