Hyderabad, December 17: It seems people in the city are in a mad rush to drive four-wheelers.
With the number of waiting days for the driving test at Nagole centre increasing, Regional Transport Authority (RTA) officials have been forced to come up with one more test track from Saturday. Officials have also sent a proposal to the government to provide land so that four more driving tracks can be set up.
RTA officials said as of now there were five dedicated tracks for four-wheelers, four for two-wheelers and one track for heavy vehicles in Nagole.
The sixth for Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) is set to be opened from December 18.
“Presently, waiting period for any new applicant for the driving test for four-wheelers is one and a half month.
There is chance it might increase as the number of persons seeking driving licence has been steadily rising.
Transport commissioner L Premachandra Reddy therefore, has directed to increase the number of driving tracks across all testing centres to meet the demand,” joint transport commissioner B Venkateshwarlu told Express. In a span of one week, the third LMV track has come up in the city. Each extra track can accommodate 56 applicants per day. Last week, at the Uppal RTA, one new track was arranged and in the coming month, another track is expected to come up at Medchal.
“To meet the existing demand, we are looking for suitable government land so that four more tracks be arranged. The proposal has already been sent for approval,” Venkateshwarlu said. However, there is a demand from some corners for the disbanded track in Secunderabad RTA to be put to use again. Nearly two years ago, officials had decided to discard it since the best quality testing tracks were made available at Nagole, Uppal, Medchal and Kondapur. “Reusing the Secunderabad track will help hundreds of people avoid travelling nearly 15 km to give their test,’’ Sathi Reddy, an auto union leader said.
–Agencies