Amrik Singh, a 50-year old trucker, was attacked while driving in Madhya Pradesh, after which he quit driving on long routes. Singh, who now drives chemical tankers around Mumbai, says drivers go around with knives and iron rods for self-protection. He finds highways in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and certain areas in Madhya Pradesh very dangerous.

Patrolling highways is the mandate of local police stations in 29 States. However, their hands are full with other crimes. States that have highway police forces, however, lack expertise in fighting crime. Maharashtra has a separate force called Maharashtra State Highway Police (MSHP).

“We do not fight crime and criminals, which is left to the local police. In the event of a crime, the Highway Police personnel only assist the local police stations,” Superintendent of Police-HQ, MSHP, Vijay Patil, informs BusinessLine .

“Highway policing has been a part of the state police where staff from the district police cadre are sent for about three years. Such short-duration deployments prevent staff from being specifically trained for highway policing,” says YP Singh, former Indian Police Service officer-turned-author.

Policing experts say latest technology like drones can be used for highway surveillance, but availability of ground police force to immediately respond in case of a driver’s SOS call is as important. In 2016, ₹960 crore of goods were stolen from roads and highways, according to National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) data, which is a conservative estimate.

Dedicated highway patrol

At the Centre, Ministries are considering options regarding a highway patrol force. Says Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, in an interaction with BusinessLine : “Law and order is the prerogative and responsibility of States. If we take such a step, they may have reservations.”

The government is also implementing the e-way bill under GSTN, which will address tax evasion attempts by customers, transporters or truckers, but not cases where they are attacked. “E-way bill can prevent tax evasion but not pilferage, thefts, attacks on highways,” says Pirozshaw Sarkari, CEO, Mahindra Logistics.

The E-way bill can emerge as a vehicle tracking mechanism in case a truck is diverted to a godown, goods are transferred to another vehicle and the original truck is dumped. If a particular vehicle breaks down and consignment is shifted to another vehicle, the driver can inform the transporter who, in turn, has the option to update the number on the e-way portal and generate a revised e-way bill.

Prakash Kumar, CEO of GSTN, the IT backbone for GST, says, “Technology has the answer to not only track locations and speed of vehicle but also other parameters such as temperature maintained in reefer van, vehicle not moving for some time, pilferage of diesel, besides others.”

But whether a disappearing vehicle or consignment can be tracked is less than clear.