Mangaluru : City Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil said that sand, gravel and soil, while being transported in trucks, should be covered with tarpaulin and an order will be issued to make it mandatory.

At the weekly phone-in programme at his office on Friday, the callers urged the police officers to take action against truck drivers who cause inconvenience to two-wheeler riders by not covering sand or gravel with the tarpaulin.

The police commissioner, while responding to the grievance, said strict action will be taken against those who flout this rule, he said.

Members of the public complained that construction debris, including sand, gravel and other materials, are dumped beside the road at Kadri Kambala, Rosario Church and other vacant plots.

Patil directed the police to identify such areas and get it cleared by serving notices to those responsible for it. “Book cases against those who fail to clear the debris,” he said.

When informed about the haphazard parking of sand trucks (seized by the police) causing inconvenience to the road users near Ullal police station, Patil issued orders to get the trucks evicted from the road. The police commissioner, in response to an Urwa Market resident’s question, said zebra crossings and even the humps have been given a fresh coat of paint to make roads pedestrian-friendly.

Several complaints related to parking of vehicles on either side of the road from Alake to Mannagudde, discharge of waste water from fish trucks, increase in density of vehicles on Rao and Rao Circle due to private transport agencies, lack of cleanliness at Ladyhill bus shelter, overcrowded school buses were heard and redressed during the programme.

A woman complained that youth cross the railway tracks even when the railway gate is closed at Pandeshwara Railway Crossing.

Patil said that a police constable will be posted at the spot to prevent people from crossing the railway gate.

A parent complained that four buses of a private college in Kottara do not have fitness and insurance certificates.

Patil directed the traffic police to visit the college with Transport Department officials and initiate action against the college management.

He also received complaints against private buses for failing to operate buses to Tarethota and Kunjathabail.