Heavy vehicle driving institute set up in Bantwal taluk, four more to come

Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi inaugurated a heavy vehicle driving institute at Kamblapadavu in Bantwal taluk. The institute is set up on 10 acres of land and has been developed at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

The Finance department in Karnataka had already given approval for setting up similar institutes in five places at Rs 15 crore each. The institute at Holalkere will be inaugurated shortly, Savadi said. The minister also promised to look into the demand for having a light motor vehicle driving institute adjacent to the heavy vehicles driving institute.

The demand for RTO office in Ullal cannot be promised now as the government is yet to frame recruitment policy by changing the C and R rules for the recruitment of ARTO. Amid the shortage of staff in transport department, the RTO office cannot be sanctioned immediately. Once the recruitment process is completed, then the demand can be looked into, he said.

Savadi observed that road accidents have been claiming 1.5 lakh lives annually. There is a need for imparting training for drivers driving heavy vehicles. The institute has been set up to reduce accidents caused by heavy vehicles. In foreign countries, people adhere to traffic rules and lane disciplines strictly.

Accidents can be reduced when training is made mandatory for drivers. The maintenance of the institute will be handed over to eligible firms shortly, the minister said.

MLA U T Khader said a light motor vehicles (LMV) driving institute should be set up on the adjacent land for the benefit of the people of the region. A proposal of Rs 7.5 crore had already been submitted and the project was sanctioned during the Siddaramaiah government's rule.

The KSRTC has stopped its services on many rural routes after the Covid-19-induced lockdown. Measures should be initiated to relaunch the services for the benefit of people and schoolchildren, he said.

An RTO office should also be sanctioned to Ullal, for the benefit of the people staying in the region. The driving institute has an administrative office and a driving track which can impart training for 100 people at a time along with stay-in facilities.