Helmetless pillion riders to face the music this puja

Don’t make the mistake of riding your motorcycle without wearing a helmet or carrying more than one person on the pillion during the Puja days as your vehicle might be seized for this offence by the city police.

 The city police on Wednesday prepared a foolproof plan to book bikers without helmet and drunken two-wheeler riders. The errant riders will be booked under section 207 of Motor Vehicles Act and their vehicle can be seized.

Senior police officers on Wednesday held a meeting at Lalbazar to chalk out the traffic plan for the Puja. The city will be divided into four zones and each zone will be under the charge of a deputy commissioner of police. Senior police officers such as Commissioner of Police, Additional Commissioner of police and Special Commissioner of police will also be on duty.

A senior police officer said that inebriated bike riders were a menace and there had been casualties every year. Bikers ride with two or even three people and as many of them are in an drunken state, they often hit either stationary vehicles or road dividers, causing severe damage to the bikes and receiving injuries that sometimes prove fatal. More two-wheeler riders are now wearing helmets after chief minister Mamata Banerjee  launched ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign and announced that no fuel would be given to those who do not wear helmets. 

“But many two-wheeler riders have a tendency to flout traffic rules on Puja days and to control them stringent action will be taken,” he said.

As many as 4,000 additional policemen will be deployed for smooth and easy movement of vehicles. There will be 7,000 traffic sergeants, 27 mobile vans and 46 watch towers for surveillance.

No goods vehicles will be allowed to enter the city after 3pm and they will be stopped in the adjoining districts like North and South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah and Burdwan. Relevant district administrations have been asked to ensure strict compliance of this instruction. They have been asked to park these vehicles in the extreme left lane so that cars and buses from the districts can enter the city without any problem. 

This arrangement will continue till Lakshmi Puja. The movement of auto-rickshaws will be  restricted. They will not be allowed to ply on important roads like Rashbehari Avenue, Gariahat Road, Beadon Street, Manicktala Main Road, Vivekananda Road and NSC Bose Road. The city police has introduced a mobile app called Utsav. People can get information on the location of important community Pujas along with the shortest routes to reach them, information on traffic jams, etc.