Nagpur: As the State Government has announced to start pilot programme with immediate effect in Nagpur, Pune and Aurangabad to make helmet compulsory for two-wheeler riders along with pillion, the commuters in Nagpur had to face bitter action on Monday. The crowd frenzy surrounding the helmet check was so much that many two-wheeler riders were spotted deviating their path to avoid challans by traffic cops.

Most of the busy stretches in Nagpur were dotted by traffic cops anxiously stopping every two wheeler rider moving without helmets. Large number of challans were made against the violators. Reports from the various check points in the city said that by afternoon traffic cops had registered 2306 challans against the violating riders. This was perhaps the biggest action for traffic rule violation in Nagpur. According to the figures 151 challans were made in East zone, whereas record number of 1000 violators faced challans in West zone. As many as 390 challans were made in North zone, 378 in South, 187 in Indira Nagar and 200 in MIDC area.

The quick implementation of the decision left little or no room for the citizens to catch hold of the situation which resulted into huge catch by the traffic men.

Sensing the gravity of the rule, the helmet sellers are once again in for some quick business as the helmet sales picked up. A source told Nagpur Today that the helmets which were normally sold anywhere between Rs 200 to Rs 250 are being sold as high as Rs 500. “The prices of branded helmets are even higher,” added the source.



Citizens oppose random action

As Nagpur Today spoke to few of the citizens who faced the wrath of traffic cops, most of them appreared wary of traffic police abrasively extracting fine amount from them. One of the citizens said, “The authorities should focus on drive to educate people by setting up case studies, instead of imposing such a rule in a hush and then taking it off after few months. A slow and steady approach is required through massive campaign for effective implement.”