DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Haryana Government will set up 6 Automated Vehicle Testing Stations in the state for fitness testing of vehicles through Automated Testing Stations (ATS). These stations will be set up at Ambala, Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Gurugram and Rewari. These stations are likely to cost around Rs. 116 crore. In this regard, while presiding over the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries here today, Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal directed the officials of the Transport Department to finalize the draft of testing stations within a month, so that the process of setting up testing stations can begin at the earliest. Sh. Kaushal directed to carefully examine the technical and commercial aspects at the Automated Testing Station operating in Delhi. He said that these stations will be built on PPP mode. He said that it has been made mandatory by the Central Government from April 1, 2023 to conduct fitness tests of heavy goods carrier vehicles and heavy passenger vehicles from ATS. On the other hand, it is proposed to implement from June 1, 2024 for medium goods carrier vehicles, passenger vehicles and light goods carrier vehicles. Therefore it is imperative to set up automated testing stations in the state. He said that in future, it is also being considered to link the scrap policy with these automated testing stations. The state government has expedited the process of setting up these stations at the earliest. It was informed in the meeting that at present a vehicle fitness station is operating in Rohtak. In addition, 6 more new stations will be built. These stations will be built in line with the vision of the next 20 years. These stations will be made in 3 lane, 4 lane or 6 lane. It was informed in the meeting that the ATS uses several machines to check the fitness of the vehicle in an automated manner. Many new devices may also be included in the future to test electric vehicles. ATS automatically performs all the necessary tests to check the fitness of the vehicle through mechanical equipment. It was informed in the meeting that a draft has also been prepared on providing facilities for the people coming to these stations. These stations will also be equipped with facilities like ATM, lounge, cafeteria etc. In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management and Consolidation Departments, Sh. VS Kundu, Additional Chief Secretary Finance and Planning Departments, Sh. Anurag Rastogi, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment and Climate Change Department, Sh. Vineet Garg, Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Sh. Navdeep Virk and others were present. (editor@dailyworld.in)