A surprise pit stop for truck drivers

​Warangal: Law and order could be their top priority but the Warangal Commissionerate police are paying as much attention to the wellness of the driving community.

Trucks passing through National Highway-563 had a surprise pit stop near Hasanparthy, on the suburbs of Warangal, on Thursday.

Seeing the police on the highway, the truck drivers, who hesitantly got down their vehicles with transport authority papers, found that it was not a routine vehicle check, but for their well-being.

Much to their surprise, the police, who offered them a warm welcome, provided them with free health checkup and medicines, besides explaining them the ill-effects of long drives.

In a bid to bring down the rate of fatalities from road accidents, Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu came up with a flagship programme christened as ‘Mee Kshemam’, as part of community policing.

A team of doctors at the makeshift medical camp put up by the police conducted primary health check-up to the drivers. The doctors also conducted eye check up to the drivers. Surprisingly, quite a few drivers were unaware of hypertension and sight problems they have.

N Subba Rao, aged around 50 years, driving a lemon-laden truck to Vijayawada, expressed surprise after he was diagnosed with hypertension. Rao said that he was not aware of it and would go for a thorough check up after his duty was over.

Meher Baba of Ongole, who got his eyes checked at the camp, thanked the police and said that we don’t get time to visit hospitals. I was advised not to strain myself and drive continuously without proper rest, he added.

“In the age of fast buck, unfortunately no one cares about the health of truck drivers, who spend weeks together behind the wheel roaming all over the country without much focus on their food habits and health condition,” Sudheer Babu told The Hans India.

During the counseling, he advised the drivers to put up their family photos at 100 kmph mark in the speedometer.

“The photo will work like a speed governor. It would remind them that someone at home is waiting for their safe return,” Sudheer Babu said, pointing out that road accidents were one of the single biggest causes of death in the country.

It may be noted here that the Warangal Commissionerate was able to bring down the number of road accidents considerably this year compared to 2015 and 2016 years through various road safety awareness programmes.