Pune is one among the auto hubs of India, but the city was in the limelight for all the wrong reasons in the recent times. The reason was the locals protesting against the decision of the authorities to strictly enforce the helmet rule in the city. Things escalated when several local politicians from the city stepped into the matter and provided their support to the protesting public. This created a problem for the authorities of the city trying to enforce the rule of using helmet while riding two-wheelers on the road. However, now the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis has made a remark on the matter and has instructed the police force in the city to use CCTV cameras to identify the offenders and then send challans to their homes.
A recent report by a weekly states that the CM asked the police to ensure that under the garb of the implementation of the rule, the common citizens of the place are not harassed on a daily basis. This comes after a few MLAs of the city visited the leader of the government in the state to express their concern regarding the implementation of the rule by the city police. What is to be noted here is that in a weird move, the citizens of Pune had also arranged a full-fledged cremation ceremony of helmets recently. However, speaking on the issue, the Chief Minister Fadnavis stated,
“Some MLAs from Pune met me today and told me Pune police, in the name of ensuring people ride wearing helmets, was harassing commuters. They (MLAs) have said such compulsion is causing inconvenience to the riders.”
The second part of his comment read,
“In Mumbai and Nagpur, police are levying fines on traffic offenders and on two-wheeler riders not using helmets by using the CCTV network. Pune police too can use technology and fine traffic violators and commuters not using helmets,”
The police in many parts of the country has started making use of the number of CCTV cameras installed in the cities in order to issue fines via e-challans to traffic rule violators. This not only ensures that the rules are followed by the users of the road but it also makes sure that proper implementation of traffic rules are carried out without the scope of any bribery.
Coming back to the helmet problem of Pune, while e-challan may be a temporary method of ensuring the rules are followed, it is only after the citizens in the city realise the importance of wearing a helmet that the issue will be addressed properly. The chances of fatalities in even a minor crash increase by a huge margin when the rider does not wear a helmet.