Waiting three days in queue to enter a terminal operator or greasing the palms of traffic policemen and cutting short the wait to just 30 minutes — this is the dilemma truck drivers ferrying huge quantities of cargo to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust have been facing day in and day out.
Waiting three days in queue to enter a terminal operator or greasing the palms of traffic policemen and cutting short the wait to just 30 minutes — this is the dilemma truck drivers ferrying huge quantities of cargo to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust have been facing day in and day out.
Traffic policemen near the port are allegedly harassing truck drivers by extracting bribes in lakhs from them on a regular basis.
"If any truck driver pays Rs1,200-2,000 to the officers, they allow him to use the other side of the road and directly go to the terminal. It is not considered a violation of traffic norms then, even if they use the right hand side of the road. The security officers too can be managed in the same way if they create problems while examining our papers at the entry points," said Vinod Pandey, a truck driver.
Because of such corrupt behaviour, drivers say they have to think twice before leaving their vehicles even to answer nature's call. "The traffic could move ahead at any time during these three days. If a driver is not there at the wheel when the trucks are asked to go ahead, he will have to pay a hefty fine for it. We can't even go to relieve ourselves because of this corrupt system," he said.
Traffic and security officers are allegedly kind to the local Maharashtrian drivers. "However, they don't spare us who have come from other states. Forget JNPT, we start facing problems on entering Maharashtra itself. We have to pay fines at four to seven places, even if we are not at fault, till we reach this place," Pandey said.
"The level of corruption in the traffic department is so deep that an officer can purchase a flat in Mumbai within just two years if he is posted at JNPT," said an official requesting anonymity.
When called, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Arvind Salve said, "First of all, there are only two roads that lead to JNPT, for the past 25 years. It is not sufficient given the number of trucks that come to the area every day.
Secondly, I admit, because of the slow pace of work in the terminals, the trucks have to wait in queue for an inordinately long time. Hence, we have met the authorities concerned and asked them to open a few more counters at the entry points."
"As far as corruption is concerned, I am not saying all our officers are honest. I will conduct a departmental inquiry and take requisite measures if I find anyone harassing the drivers like that," he added.
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