Decks cleared for supplying holograms for emergency vehicles

LUCKNOW: A Noida-based private firm has bagged the contract for supply of security printed stickers (holograms) that will mandatorily be pasted on the windscreens of the emergency vehicles which wish to use multicolour light bars as a substitute to the red/blue beacons, an official said. The Centre scrapped the provisions for red/blue beacons in May 2017.

“We have awarded the contract for the manufacturing of the special stickers to a Noida based private company,” additional transport commissioner, enforcement, VK Singh said.

“The firm, as per the agreement, will have to start supplying stickers to us within a month of bagging the contract,” he added. The final contract was awarded two days back after the transport department opened the technical and financial bids on August 8 and found the Noida firm to have quoted the lowest price at Rs 13.50 per sticker. Three firms participated in the bids.

The transport department will begin the work of allotting security printed stickers to emergency vehicles more than 15 months after the Central government issued a notification, scrapping the provisions for the use of red and blue beacons on vehicles in the country.

The May 1, 2017 notification allowed emergency vehicles like those used by police to use multicolour lights in the form of a bar atop roof (as used by UP 100 vehicles in the state). Apart from those of the police (for maintenance of law and order), other duties that the Central government has declared as emergency are disaster management duties, duties by defence or paramilitary forces, work relating to fire and pertaining to management of natural disasters including earthquake, flood, landslide, cyclone, tsunami and manmade disasters including chemical and biological disaster. As per the same notification, the transport department of every state was supposed to issue a public notice listing the authorities to whom the permission to use the vehicles for emergency duties has been granted. Such vehicles will necessarily display on their windscreen the sticker issued by such transport department. Only one sticker will be issued to the designated officer or for one vehicle at one point of time.