On PCB terrain,bikers sans helmet pay through their nose

Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishwas Pandhare (Traffic) on Monday confirmed the figure,adding that the actual figure may well be higher. Police have been stopping and charging erring commuters Rs 100 as fine,officials said.

Helmets were made compulsory within the PCB limits by the Local Military Authority (LMA) from September 1. But motorists started being fined only from October 1.

The number of challans may also be viewed in the light that within three months between October 1 and December 31,2012,police had issued 29,000 challans,which is an equivalent of Rs 10 lakh a month. The same number this year has been about 7,000 to 8,000 challans per month.

While Pandhare admitted that the real success of helmet imposition would be when the police will have to issue lesser number of challans,officials associated with the drive termed the drive as successful. “Regular office-goers and routine commuters have started wearing helmets and we have seen a stark rise in the number of people entering Pune Camp wearing helmets. It is the first time/occasional commuter who pose a cause for concern,” said a police officer. Pandhare also pointed out that four out of every 10 commuters have started wearing helmets,which was not the case earlier.

The LMA had initiated the drive with an objective to educate people and ensure safety within the cantonment limits. There are,in all,39 entry and exit points within PCB limits,and teams comprising military police and city police have been randomly stopping and imposing fines on commuters not wearing helmets.

According to the Army,teams have been deliberately “avoiding peak traffic hours” to avoid congestion and inconvenience to commuters.

The “huge fine amount” collected is also an indication that a large number of commuters are breaking the rule even nine months after being implemented with massive publicity.

“The compulsion is implemented in a haphazard manner. There are no fixed timings as to when the teams will be on the vigil. There is also no uniformity in stopping commuters. While some are caught,others are set free. The teams forcefully stop commuters as if it is military rule,” complained a routine commuter.

Pointing out that the drive is implemented rather strictly given the Army’s role in its implementation,Advocate N K Bhog,a resident of Camp,said,“The police we know do not implement rules so rigidly in other parts of the city. Why not implement the same rule everywhere?”

Pandhare said that it is the people’s attitude against wearing helmets that is the cause for concern. “People must understand that the drive is not to collect money. It is for people’s safety. We are doing this with the help of the military police due to a manpower shortage. It is high time,people,institutions,private companies and NGOs join us actively in implementing the helmet rule instead of remaining silent observers,” Pandhare said.