Bangalore-Mangalore highway turns burial ground

Bangalore-Mangalore highway turns burial ground

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, April 25: The 16-wheel tanker trailers, commonly known as bullet tankers, which carry petroleum products, have made the Mangalore – Bangalore NH 75 (previously NH48) very dangerous for motorists and environment alike. Recently, a bullet tanker lost control, dashed into a mini van, and killed five on the spot. 

Bullet tankers are dangerous because they can go out of control any time and slide all over the highway, damaging anything that gets into the way and releasing poisonous fumes into the atmosphere. Today, around 3000 bullet tankers ply along NH75 and accidents and death have become common along this stretch.

If tanker drivers continue being reckless, the highway can be easily transformed into a burial ground. On NH75, over 2000 petroleum tankers travel daily to Bangalore, with over 50 percent of them plying at day and the rest at night.

Using this highway to move petroleum products was heavily opposed at first. The district administrations of DK, Tumkur, Bangalore Rural, Hassan, and Bangalore Urban have urged oil companies to use the Mangalore Bangalore Petroleum Pipeline laid between Thokur and Devana Gundi in Nelamangala Bangalore to move their products. But oil companies have been consistently ignoring these orders. Trade unions say that a large tanker lobby in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu works behind the scenes.

Explaining the situation better, Ivan Menezes, who owns a tanker in Mangalore, said that tanker owners have invested crores on their tankers, having taken loans from nationalized banks. He also said that owners will be jobless and banks will be at a loss if tankers do not get contracts. He said that almost all refineries use Petronet India Ltd.’s pipeline network, owing to which tankers are used to move a small percentage of the products.

The biggest disadvantage of bullet tankers is that they can easily get out of control, especially at curves. A large pivot acts as a link to the trailer, and according to a transport department official, this link functions as a joint to keep the trailer and the engine in movement.

This pivot has to be serviced frequently, but tanker companies hardly service the pivot. Although the brakes on all 16 wheels should function harmoniously, tanker companies service only the front and rear wheel brakes to cut costs. This is what makes the vehicle so dangerous, making it turn turtle, he added.