Kolkata: Kolkata Police has decided to levy a penalty of Rs 5,000 and above under section 190(1) of Motor Vehicles Act on motorists driving unfit vehicles on Maa and AJC Bose Road flyovers in case of breakdowns caused due to non-maintenance of the vehicles or fuel getting exhausted. This is in addition to the charges for towing away the vehicles. Cops said the decision was taken at a high-level meeting.
Breakdowns anywhere else in the city will not attract such penal action. “Frequent breakdowns of poorly maintained vehicles and arguments over minor collisions are leading to severe congestion on AJC Bose Road & Maa flyovers. This will be viewed as causing obstruction to smooth flow of traffic and will be prosecuted U/s 190 (1) M V Act, inviting severe penalty amounting to Rs 5,000 and above,” said DC (traffic), Shrikant Jagannathrao Yeliwad.
The decision has left motorists puzzled as they wonder how cops can determine the maintenance of a vehicle.
It is the state transport authority or public vehicles department in Kolkata that issues certificate of fitness to vehicles. They also wondered how police could discriminate between cars that took a flyover and those that didn’t.
The development comes a day after Yeliwad announced that a policy was now in place to “take legal action against anyone holding up traffic on the flyover or creating any obstruction to traffic movement except in cases of genuine breakdowns.”
“Every day, at least two to three vehicles break down on the Maa Flyover. The process of removing the broken down vehicles with a tow truck and restoring traffic flow often leads to congestion,” claimed a senior official. However, cops have stated that not all breakdowns will see their owners are fined. “Only those vehicles that are not fit for road use, or run out of fuel will see their owners being penalized,” said an officer from the east guard. Besides breakdowns, incidents of vehicles running out of fuel on flyovers are also common.