from Daijiworld special correspondent in Panaji

Panaji, Feb 18: The iron ore brought from the other states including Karnataka to Goa would invite cess to the tune of Rs 5 from the state government.

Disclosing this in the state legislative assembly, transport minister Pandurang Madkaikar said that largely the trucks come from Karnataka state.

The department has also decided to keep stringent checks on the overloading by the trucks carrying ore from Karnataka and other neighbouring states.

Transport minister said that the cess would not (not) be imposed on the state borders and instead would be imposed at the point of unloading.

Speaking on the floor of the house, the transport minister admitted that their attempt to install speed controller equipments on the trucks to control their speed has failed due to resistance from truck owners. ``We have seen positive results of this equipments after we installed it on the state-government-run Kadamba transport corporation,'' Madkaikar said.

The minister said that the equipment costs around Rs 25,000 which is not affordable for the truck owners. ``Truck operators have opposed the idea,'' Madkaikar said.

Stating that the transport department has no business to impose cell on the ore as it has failed to widen the roads, leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar, demanded that the department should also look into widening of the
roads.