KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Concerned over the rising number of road accidents in the different parts of the state, BJP-PDP coalition government is soon incorporating the latest GPS-GPRS technology for Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) to be installed in all the passenger vehicles playing on highways and other roads of Jammu and Kashmir.
Transport Minister Abdul Ghani Kohli told KNS that tenders for installing the GPS-GPRS technology will be floated within 15 days, and the technology would be installed in every passenger vehicle, particularly in those plying on highly risky highways in far-off places of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Vehicle Tracking System will not only keep track of the movement of the vehicle but will also help in monitoring the speed of the vehicle and thus help us in accident detection and reporting, apart from helping the traffic controllers and managers at different bus stations to ensure effective management of arrivals and departures of buses,” Kohli said.
“We have also talked to Union Transport ministry in this regard,” he said.
The transport minister added that incorporating GPS-GPRS technology in passenger vehicles is part of slew of measures taken by the department to streamline road transport in the state, thereby minimising the threat of road accidents.
He said the transport department is also procuring new fleet of modern buses which will also have GPS-GPRS technology. “And such buses will be introduced on all roads of the state to replace the Tata Sumos, which are actually cause of many road accidents because they resort to over speed. Besides we have stopped issuing commercial driving licences for the time being so that we could verify the authenticity of already issued licences,” Kohli added.
Kohli said the VTS will help in bunching of buses and track the speed of the buses. “In other words, the controllers at the headquarters and bus stations can track whether the bus is travelling at prescribed speed limits, where it made unauthorised stops, where it skipped bus stations, where it is supposed to go, whether there were any problems with the bus like mechanical failure or any accident,” he said.
VTS will track where and when the bus moved or stopped, calculate the speed and the distance and arrive at the ETA which will be displayed on the electronic display boards in buses and at bus stations.
