Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Police decision to crackdown on drunken driving by forwarding the accused to courts under the amended Motor Vehicles Act has seen a 20-25 percent fall in liquor sale at city shops and bars.
There are more than 60 bars in Bhubaneswar and many of them are owned by liquor stores’ owners who said that they have seen a steep decline in sales after the implementation of strict Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act from September 1.
Shiv Prasad Mohanty of Mohanty Bar said, “Earlier, more than 100 people were coming to the shop but now 30-40 people are visiting it.”
Bijay Sahu, owner of a liquor store, said that the business has declined a little as customers are afraid of new traffic rules and fines.
The new rules enhance the penalty for drunken driving to imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for first offence and imprisonment up to two years and/or fine of Rs 15,000 for the second offence.
Although the MV Act has provision for arresting tipsy drivers, Odisha police had not implemented the provisions seriously.
Transport officials and Odisha police have collected a whopping Rs 88.90 lakh as penalty from erring riders and drivers of the state in the first four days after the MV Act came into force September 1.
Long queues for PUC certificates
Long queues can be seen at RTO offices for obtaining pollution under check (PUC) certificates which was a rare sight. This shows the amount of fear the new traffic rules have struck in the minds of the people.
It is also an indication that the people are now becoming aware of pollution created by the vehicles. But in the city, many of the mobile pollution checking vans were found absent. At RTO-I office, in the absence of adequate staff, people were seen standing in long queues for pollution checks and this had created a chaotic situation for some time, source said
Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), February 1, 2016, had launched pollution testing vans to operate within the city.
These vehicles fitted with auto exhaust or multi-gas analysers measure the volume of harmful gases, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons from automobile exhaust. The test costs Rs 60 for a motorcycle and Rs150 for a goods carrier.
Now, vehicle owners in Bhubaneswar are facing a tough time complying with the PUC norm as around 15 mobile pollution testing stations positioned across the city a few days back have disappeared.
Regional Transport Officer Pradeep Kumar Mohanty said while pollution testing stations have been set up at different petrol pumps in the city, IDs and passwords for conducting mobile pollution check had been issued to 21 persons. However, only six have renewed their IDs and passwords. As a result, the remaining 15 testing stations are not able to conduct the pollution check. Therefore, they have disappeared to avoid legal action.
With only six mobile pollution testing stations remaining in the entire city, vehicle owners have to wait for hours for their turn on busy roads.
These vehicles are situated at many places of the city such as RTO Colony, Nayapalli, Jaydev Vihar, Kalinga Hospital Square, Kalpana Square, Sailashri Vihar, Baramunda and Acharya Vihar.
Aditya Nanda Patra, in-charge of Jaydev Vihar pollution testing vehicle, explained the standards that a vehicle needed to maintain to clear the test. “If the exhaust contains less than 0.5 per cent of carbon monoxide and 750 gram/mile of hydrocarbons, the vehicle is cleared as pollution free. Vehicles emitting anything above these limits are not issued certificates. The owners of these vehicles are advised to get the engine oil changed or to get their vehicles serviced.”
Rakesh Patnaik who came to RTO office said that the traffic rules are for middle class people and not for rich people and government staff.
The certificates issued by the testing vans are valid for six months and it is one of the essential documents that need to be produced during checks.
Road safety main motive
Police Commissioner Sudhansu Sarangi said, “Heavy fines under the Motor Vehicles Act at present will be painful for the people but they will raise their awareness level on traffic rules. Freedom doesn’t mean that you will drive without control and recklessly in drunken condition. We don’t relish collecting fines, the law has to be enforced and number of accidents need to come down. We expect cooperation from all in this matter,” he added.