Rudraprayag accident prompts officials to check hill endorsement of licence

A day after fifteen tourists died in a road accident in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag, officials said on Sunday that there was a need for greater focus on 'hill endorsement' in drivers' licences accompanied by a physical test.

Joint Transport Commissioner Sanat Singh said this checking was required for all tourist vehicles, including those part of the Chardham Yatra and the Hemkund Sahib Yatra, to reduce road accidents in hilly regions.

Many tourist vehicles come to Uttarakhand, but due to a greater volume of cars of Chardham Yatra, checking of other vehicles is ignored, Singh said.

"Now we will need to focus on tourism apart from Chardham Yatra. We will now focus on hill endorsement of driving license," the official said.

'Hill endorsement' of a driver's license is necessary for driving in mountainous roads, he said.

Singh said earlier the state did not have the facility for physical tests of 'hill endorsement', so the test was offered online. Now, driving tracks for such tests have