Himachal Deputy CM Agnihotri meets Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, raises key transport issues of state

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 3 (ANI): Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri on Thursday called on Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari at his residence in New Delhi and raised several pressing transport-related issues concerning Himachal Pradesh.
During the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister of the long-standing demand of Contract Carriage vehicle operators of the State for enhancement of the permissible age limit of such vehicles, which are used as tourist vehicles from 12 to 15 years, on the lines of the age limit already extended to vehicles under the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) scheme. 
He urged that similar relief be extended to Contract Carriage vehicles as well, without compromising road safety. Providing major relief to the state’s taxi operators and the tourism sector, an important decision was taken to increase the validity period of taxis operating within the state under Tourist Permits (Contract Carriage) from 12 years to 15 years. The Union Minister directed that the requisite notification in this regard be issued.
Agnihotri also flagged the issue of inadequate Automated Testing Station (ATS) infrastructure in the hilly State, where only two ATS centres are presently functional. He requested that the manual fitness testing system be allowed to continue in parallel until adequate ATS coverage is achieved across Himachal Pradesh to avoid hardship to transport operators. 
Gadkari assured that the request of the State Government would be considered sympathetically and sought an undertaking on the status of the under-construction ATS from the state government, which would be sent immediately. 
Agreement was also reached on increasing the speed limit on the Kiratpur–Bilaspur–Mandi route from 60 km/h to 80 km/h. 
Furthermore, at the request of Mukesh Agnihotri, necessary instructions were issued regarding the request to connect the Amritsar-Hoshiarpur National Highway to the National Highway Network from Pandoga (on the Punjab-Himachal border) to Jhalera Una.
Agnihotri thanked the Union Minister for his positive response and expressed hope that the pending issues would be resolved at the earliest, providing much-needed relief to the transport sector of the State. (ANI)