Transport dept to crack down on 'unfit' pool cars having fitness certificate

Kolkata: In a bid to ensure no lapse in security of school children, the state Transport department will take strict action and seize pool cars if their condition is not fit for plying despite having proper certificate of fitness.

The decision comes days after a pool car that lacked a fitness certificate met with an accident in Hooghly's Polba, leaving several students injured.

"We will take strict actions against a pool car if the condition of the vehicle is not fit for running on the road," said state Transport Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam, after conducting meeting with police officials and pool car operators at Transport Bhawan.

"We conducted a meeting with the transport and police officials. During the meeting, we have urged the officials to keep track of the illegal pool-cars without any proper documents," said West Bengal Contract Carriage Owners' and Operators Association general secretary Himadri Ganguly.

"We welcome the decision of checking pool cars at different places," said Anjan Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of Bengal Car Pool Welfare Association. Kolkata Traffic Police has been instructed by senior officials of city police to take stringent action against pool-cars which are plying while flouting the norms.

Amidst checking for the same on Monday, a pool-car hit a scooter on Canal East Road, while in another case, a pool-car driver was arrested for driving in drunken condition in Moulali.

Now onwards, the vehicle will be seized if it does not have proper physical fitness certificate, speed governor and other necessary documents.

"It is seen that after getting the physical fitness certificate from the Public Vehicles Department, the pool car owners replace new tyres with old ones and start plying it on the road. In such cases, the certificate of fitness will be cancelled and penalty will be imposed," said the official.

Earlier, the state Education department had emphasised that it is the school authorities, whether government-run or private, who have to ensure that the vehicles in which their students come to school must have necessary clearances as per the set norms.