The Very Important Person (VIP) who visits Bangalore is weighed down by a Very Old convoy. The VIP security section in Bangalore has 53 vehicles, including 12 two-wheelers. Most of these are over 15 years old. The transport department demands that all vehicles over 15 years old seek a fitness certificate. Many of the vehicles used as part of the convoy providing the VIP security now await fitness certificates. This includes 22 Ambassador cars, 14 Gypsys and five jeeps.
“It is mandatory for vehicles over 15 years old to undergo checks to see if it is safe for them to continue to ply. There is need for a certificate from the transport department, attesting to their road worthiness. A vehicle that fails these tests will be barred from plying on the roads,” an official said.
Drivers in the VIP section also need special training to handle situations of emergency. The section faces a shortage of staff. So sometimes, finding a driver for a VIP is difficult. And when a driver is found, there is no telling whether he is equipped for the job, as many of the drivers in the section have received no training to handle an emergency.
“What vehicles we have now are old, and there are often breakdowns. If escort vehicles break down, it poses a security risk to the VIP. Even ambulances procured from city hospitals are sometimes not in good shape, and these can cause problems,” said an official.“Three bulletproof cars have reached retirement age. Four more cars with the state intelligence wing are also well past their prime. We cannot shift the VIPs from one car to another car during the movement of the convoy,” sources in the city police said.
An official of the VIP security wing who did not wish to be named said there were umpteen instances of escort vehicles meeting with an accident when attempting to speed up and keep pace with the high-power vehicles of VIPs. This happened even in September 2009, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi was visiting the city. Member of Parliament Sachin Pilot, in an angry letter after a visit to the city last year, said that Bangalore offered ‘ramshackle VIP cars’.
Comments