Concern over dilapidated test driving track at Tiruchi RTO

The poor maintenance of the driving test track at the Tiruchi West Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Pirattiyur is causing concern among those applying for their vehicular licences there.

“We are supposed to demonstrate our driving skills in the ‘8’ formation, but the demarcations are overgrown with weeds. The track for two-wheeler tests is also inaccessible due to the dense vegetation,” said a driving test aspirant.

The office receives approximately 150 driving licence applications for cars and two-wheelers per week, and a smaller number from heavy vehicles.

The Tiruchi West RTO has under its limits, Woraiyur, Ponmalai, Airport, Thennur, Thillai Nagar, Jamal Mohamed College, K.K. Nagar, Khaja Nagar, and the Unit Office at Manapparai.

Visitors to the RTO complain about the erosion of the tarmac roads inside the premises, especially during the recent rainy weather.

On the driving test track, boards to test motorists’ skills are almost lost to view, as the sections for speed breakers and U-turns are choked with plants.

When contacted by The Hindu, a senior RTO official said that work had begun on a new facility within the campus, that would use computerised driving tests.

“We are constructing the facility in partnership with a private company to introduce computer-aided driving tests, and hope to inaugurate it within three months,” the official said.

He asserted that the existing track was still usable despite its dilapidated condition.