The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Snip and peel’ operation irks drivers

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Sunday, Mar 02, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Snip and peel’ operation irks drivers

S. Sandeep Kumar

A majority of three lakh cars on city roads use dark tint films

Police removing dark tinted film from windows of a car in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: Red faced drivers and passengers of over 100 cars watched uneasily as officials used blades to peel off patches of dark tinted film from windows and rear windshields on Saturday at different places in the State capital.

Authorities resorted to the ‘peel-off’ exercise, as car owners gave scant regard to the publicity drive against the use of ‘dark-tint films’ on four wheelers.

The passengers and drivers could only murmur their protests, as authorities jotted down their numbers and let them go with a warning that non-compliance of the norms of minimum visual transmission would not be tolerated again.

The penalties are stiff and could go up to Rs 2000.

A majority of three lakh cars on city roads use dark tint films ostensibly to cut down heat radiation and improve air-conditioning effect. Motorists are cut up with the ‘no dark tint rule’ as they feel dark tints provide some privacy on roads which are clogged for most part of the day reducing cruising speeds to less than 12 kmph if one is lucky. Otherwise during the ‘more often gridlock’ phenomenon, motorists are forced to listen to the non-stop jabber dished out on FM radio channels.

A massive awareness drive is taken up about Central Motor Vehicle Rules which say see through from the wind screen and rear shield should be 70 per cent, while it should be 50 per cent for the windows.

They began pasting red stickers asking owners to use the right tint film. Nonetheless, motorists never cared the warnings and now the officials wielded the blades at Secunderabad, Malakpet and Khairathabad Transport Offices.

They stopped cabs ferrying call centre employees and peeled off film patches after noting the vehicle numbers. “Either they should totally remove the dark tint films or use the permitted ones. We shall check the vehicles again. And this time, they would have to pay the penalties”, said B. Venkateshwarlu, Joint Transport Commissioner, who supervised the Saturday peel-off operations.

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