Chief Electoral Officer J&K, Hirdesh Kumar, who is also holding the charge of Commissioner/Secretary Transport Department today reviewed the working of Motor Vehicle Department Kathua.The Commissioner/ Secretary Transport visited RTO Office Kathua and inspected the office and interacted with officials.Regional Transport officer, Dr. Raj Kumar Thapa, gave a powerpoint presentation on the working and achievements of the Motor Vehicle Department.Giving details about the enforcement drives conducted by the Motor Vehicles Department, the RTO informed that a fine of Rs. 1.32 Cr was recovered from 432 vehicles in the year 2018-19 and Rs. 2.11 Cr from 745 Vehicles in the year 2019-20 for violation of traffic rules.Similarly a fine of Rs. 14.06 lakh was recovered during the current financial year from the violators. In addition to this, the MVD Kathua also suspended 32 Driving Licenses of defaulters during 2019-20, the meeting was told.The Commissioner Transport also took stock of the road accident scenario in the district during the last three years and targets set to reduce accidents by 50% as envisaged by the Supreme court committee on Road Safety.
He said that the strategy for reducing mortality and mobility due to road accidents require intervention at multiple levels by all stakeholders including civil society.He further informed that the district administration and Transport Department have initiated the process for making 34-35 kanals of land available for establishing a Driving test ground and fitness centre for vehicles in Kathua shortly. He also informed that the MVD Kathua, in addition to other districts, has also been provided some of the modern equipment which include speed guns, pollution checking devices, breath analyzers etc.He directed the R&B department and district police to identify the black spots in the district so that action to rectify these spots is taken by the concerned department. He also directed the staff to take all precautionary measures like wearing masks, physical distancing, Hand wash/sanitization etc. while in office or travelling to defeat COVID-19. He advised that citizens should avoid unnecessary travel during these times.The meeting was also attended by Atul Gupta, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kathua; Davender Bhagat, AC(R); Neeraj Sharma, ARTO; Surinder Kumar, MVI; Ravinder Kumar, MVI and other staff of MVD.