Truck, bus owners should install speed governors with limit of 60 kmph on vehicles, says Udupi SP
Udupi: The Udupi District Road Safety Authority has made it mandatory for heavy vehicles including buses and trucks transporting stones and sand to get speed governors to prevent accidents, Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar has said.
With several accidents due to overspeeding of transport vehicles and negligence of drivers being reported from the district, the Authority has restricted the speed limit of the heavy vehicles to 60 kmph. The rule will be applicable to all six-wheelers and larger vehicles carrying sand, stone and soil in the district, the senior officer said.
The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the Authority. Truck drivers and owners are given 10 days’ time to install the speed governors in their vehicles. Pamphlets will be distributed to spread awareness among the owners regarding the rules, Shankar added.
In addition, bus owners are instructed to install doors on their vehicles by January 20. Buses found without doors will be confiscated and the owners will have to pay fine, the SP warned.
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11k litres of milk poured into Narmada river after religious event; environmentalists see red
Sehore (PTI): Around 11,000 litres of milk were poured into Narmada river, often called the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, in Sehore district on the culmination of a 21-day religious event as part of a sanctification ritual, prompting environmentalists to flag its negative impact on the ecosystem.
The event concluded at Satdev village in Bherunda area, located about 90 km from the district headquarters, with a 'mahayagna' on Wednesday.
The milk was offered to the river as part of rituals and prayers for the purity of the waters, the well-being of pilgrims and prosperity, organisers said.
The milk was brought in tankers to the riverbank and later poured into the flowing water amid chanting of mantras in the presence of a crowd of devotees.
However, environmentalists raised concerns over the practice, warning of its potential ecological impact.
"Such large quantities of organic matter can deplete dissolved oxygen in water, adversely affecting the river ecosystem. These impact local communities dependent on the river for drinking water and threaten aquatic life as well as domestic animals," noted environmentalist and wildlife activist Ajay Dube said.
Religious offerings should be symbolic and mindful, he asserted.
Renowned environmentalist Subhash Pandey said 11,000 litres of milk acts as a significant organic pollutant.
"It is highly oxygen-demanding and can lead to oxygen depletion, aquatic mortality, eutrophication (process of plants growing on river surface) and loss of potability. These effects are predictable from dairy-effluent chemistry and have been documented in similar incidents worldwide," Pandey pointed out.
Narmada originates at Amarkantak in the state and traverses 1,312 km westward to Maharashtra and Gujarat, emptying into the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Cambay.
It is the largest west-flowing river in the peninsula, passing through a rift valley, and acts as a crucial water source for irrigation in MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
