The Centre has issued a notification laying down safety requirements such as visual display, handrail and seat belt anchorages for construction equipment vehicles.
This is to ensure safety while these vehicles are running on public roads along with other vehicles, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said.
Certain safety requirements are already mandated for construction equipment vehicles under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989. The new norms will be rolled out in a phased manner — Phase-I (April 2021) and Phase-II (April 2024) — as per the notification.
The norms aim to introduce several safety requirements including visual display requirements, requirements for operator station and maintenance areas, non-metallic fuel tanks, minimum access dimensions, and others.
Construction equipment vehicles are extensively used for carrying out various infrastructure projects.
The draft notification in this regard inviting public comments was issued on August 13.