On the lines of Ahmedabad, Surat will also be divided into two zones for RTO purposes and will have separate registration series for vehicles. Two series for vehicles, GJ-1 and GJ-27, are followed in Ahmedabad RTO and Surat will now be having two also --- GJ-5 and GJ-28.
The new vehicle series will be available from the RTO office built at Pal in Adajan. The new office is on the other side of the river Tapi, and is expected to start functioning in 2-3 months. Residents of Adajan, Rander, Hazira and up to Olpad will have to register their vehicles with this RTO office. Vehicles of the old city, like Varachha, Sachin and up to Palsana will have to get registered at the current RTO office located near Majura gate.
While the decision for the new series has been taken, an official gazette is awaited on the same.
"State Commissioner and GMVD (Gujarat Motor Vehicles Department) has taken the decision to bifurcate Surat RTO into two parts. While the state government has approved the decision, we are waiting for its official declaration. It is expected that gazette for the same will be issued in April 2012," said, KA Patel, ARTO officer of Surat.
According to Patel, bifurcation is mainly because number of vehicles coming to RTO in Surat has increased considerably in the past few years, while Surat has also expanded a lot. Till now, 19 lakh vehicles have been registered with Surat RTO.
Now that bifurcation is fixed, RTO officials have started making arrangements for the same. Staff has been told to separate the files of vehicles having address of Adajan and adjoining areas. As the new RTO office is on the verge of completion, it is expected that staff will get shifted in a few days.
Surat RTO is the second most earning office of GMVD in the state after Ahmedabad. It will be the second city in the state to have two vehicle series.
