Kochi: The motor vehicle department (MVD) in Ernakulam has been struggling to conduct driving tests for the last three years due to lack of a permanent venue.
However, if things go as planned, the department is finally set to pass the ‘ground test’.
Senior officials of the MVD are in talks with the Cochin Port Trust for 3.5-acre land near the flying tunnel of the Naval airport at Vathuruthy. If the proposal goes through, the MVD will shift driving tests of the entire Ernakulam region here.
“The Port Trust has virtually agreed to provide three-acre land belonging to it lying idle there without any rent and another 50 cents on rent," an official said.
"Currently, we don’t have a proper testing ground. The one at Kakkanad is small and temporarily leased out. We require a minimum two-acre land for conducting tests properly and setting up equipment like surveillance cameras.”
The MVD has requested Port Trust for another 50 cents for purposes like space for parking of seized vehicles for non-payment of tax. “Currently, we’re not indulging in such exercise for want of space”.
However, the deal with the Port Trust is yet to be finalised, pending issues like objection of the Navy to building structures on the ground citing proximity to the naval airport.
In the last three years, the MVD was forced out of two grounds in Kakkanad and is currently conducting tests on a third one.
It also affects people directly as the officials admit that 40 to 45 percent of candidates, especially women, fail the ‘8’ and ‘H’ tests for two-wheelers and light motor vehicles respectively due to an uneven surface of the ground.
“We’ve no land in our possession. First we’re conducting the tests at a ground en-route to Pallikkara. Now they have built a regional laboratory there. Then we relocated to another open space on the RBDCK-owned land near the collectorate building. It didn’t last more than a year as a shopping mall is coming up there violating norms. We’ve been temporarily allocated a small ground near the Thrikkakara police station,” a senior MVD official said.
