Window cleaning is now a paying proposition

NEW DELHI, May 3: Even as harried motorists continue to complain about the drive against solar films on car windows, car mechanics and the D...

NEW DELHI, May 3: Even as harried motorists continue to complain about the drive against solar films on car windows, car mechanics and the Delhi Traffic Police are having a bonanza time.

The traffic police have earned more than Rs 9 lakh, in three days since the drive was launched, by issuing challans to motorists who do not conform to the specifications. At 2 p.m. yesterday, 8,082 motorists had been challaned in this connection. Each penny collected through challans is accounted for and policemen cannot demand extra money for peeling of solar films from car windows, as the service is 8220;free of cost8221;.

Car mechanics, on the other hand, are not accountable to anyone. And those who are benefitting most are the road side operators, especially, those located close to traffic police posts. As motorists with dark car windows, pull up, these mechanics peel off the solar films, charging anything from Rs 10 to Rs 50.

At one such establishment in the Kamla Market area, 22-year-old Ramesh Kumar said he has been earning about Rs 250 by peeling off solar films. 8220;I charge Rs 10 for a Fiat or an Ambassador, and Rs 15 for Marutis. If the owner wants to have his car windows cleaned with soap water, I ask for an extra Rs 10,8221; he says.

Ramesh8217;s counterparts in areas like Malviya Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and C.R. Park are less generous. Jasbir Singh Sodhi, who runs a confectionery in Lajpat Nagar complains: 8220;I was charged Rs 70 to get these solar films removed from my Tata Sumo.8221;

There are allegations against traffic policemen too. Several motorists complain that they are stopped at less-frequented crossings and told that the films on the cars are too dark. 8220;I was stopped by a policeman and his partner. They did not have any of those glass samples which are to be used for estimating the transmission of light. Yet they fined me Rs 100,8221; says Kushal Kapoor, an executive whose Maruti car was stopped near the Shahdara flyover.

DCP Traffic M.S. Upadhye, nevertheless, says, 8220;There may one or two unpleasant incidents, but the purpose has been achieved to a large extent. We have been a little lenient. But next week we will change gears.8221;