PANJIM: Riders without helmets were in for a rude shock on Saturday when Traffic personnel cracked down on them imposing a penalty in a drive across the State following an appeal by the department to wear helmets for safety. While there was some praise for this exercise, some accused the department of not conducting it evenly across all the roads.

“There were about 7-8 traffic police near the Panjim Police Headquarters who were stopping riders without helmets. We appreciate this drive but why were other places in the city left out?” questioned a two-wheeler rider who was fined Rs 100 for not wearing a helmet on Saturday evening. 

Deputy Superintendent of Police Dharmesh Angle said that officers are deputed at every location for a particular time and then shifted to another place. “There are many riders without helmets and as such it is not possible to catch them for the violation in one go. We have therefore deployed a group of personnel at one location to be able to book the violators, and shifted them to other locations after a particular time. The change in locations after a certain time period is being done on a daily basis. In this way, we are able to spread out the exercise at all places,” he said.

Another senior officer said that shortage of staff is one hurdle to carry out the exercise across all places at the same time. In the coming days, the uniform implementation of the drive will begin, he said. 

On June 21, SP Devesh Kumar Mahla had issued a circular advising people to wear helmets while riding.