PANAJI | March 01, 2017: Even though the Goa government has put in place all regulatory measures to ensure discipline in mining transportation, many trucks are found to be indulging in violating the speed-limit rule and interfering with the Global Positioning System (GPS), installed in the vehicle.

According to information received by this daily, the Directorate of Mines and Geology has suspended permit of eight mining trucks engaged in iron ore transportation, for remaining season that is till May 31, which is the last date of mining season in Goa, for interfering with the GPS device. As per the data, a total of 6,120 trucks are registered with the department with GPS installed and these vehicles collectively make over 4,000 trips per day on an average. In order to regulate speed limit of trucks transporting iron ore from the mining sites to the jetties, the department has put in place the vehicle tracking system, which displays the status of these vehicles on a real-time basis.

A senior official informed this reporter that the department has so far found eight truckers to be tampering with the GPS and suspended their transportation permit for the entire season. The official said that as far as violations are concerned, per day an average of 200 to 1,500 trucks are found violating the maximum speed limit, which is 40 kilometres per hour (kmph). The official said that action is being taken against the violators as per the rules.

“These eight truckers were found interfering with the GPS devices installed in the vehicle. The truckers were removing wires of battery connected to the device. Some truckers had fitted a switch, which they switched off in order to drive the vehicle beyond the specified speed limit,” the official said.

The GPS device tracks speed and location of the vehicle. Weight of a truck, without any load, is also tabulated. Sensors are then attached to the weigh bridges at the mines. As the trucks pass over them, the weight of the ore they carry is calculated, giving the department an exact idea of how much ore has been mined.

The state government has made the installation of GPS in mining trucks mandatory to bring in transparency in the mining business since mining restarted in the state in 2015. It may be noted that many fatal accidents have taken place in the mining belt in the state due to over-speeding by the mining trucks. The GPS devices have been made compulsory for these vehicles in order to curb accidents in the mining belt.

(Source: http://www.navhindtimes.in/)