Shimla: Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today called on Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari at his residence in New Delhi and raised several pressing transport-related issues concerning Himachal Pradesh.
During the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister of the long-standing demand of Contract Carriage vehicle operators of the State for enhancement of the permissible age limit of such vehicles which are used as Tourist vehicle from 12 to 15 years, on the lines of the age limit already extended to vehicles under the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) scheme.
Agnihotri also flagged the issue of inadequate Automated Testing Station (ATS) infrastructure in the hilly State, where only two ATS centres are presently functional. He requested that the manual fitness testing system be allowed to continue in parallel until adequate ATS coverage is achieved across Himachal Pradesh, to avoid hardship to transport operators.
Agreement was also reached on increasing the speed limit on the Kiratpur–Bilaspur–Mandi route from 60 km/h to 80 km/h. Furthermore on the request of Mukesh Agnihotri necessary instructions were issued regarding the request to connect the Amritsar-Hoshiarpur National Highway to the National Highway Network from Pandoga ( on the Punjab-Himachal Border) to Jhalera Una.
Agnihotri thanked the Union Minister for his positive response and expressed hope that the pending issues would be resolved at the earliest, providing much-needed relief to the transport sector of the State.
