Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
CITY Traffic police have booked a total of 111 underage drivers along with their parents for driving motor vehicles in public places without license. Collective penalty worth Rs 1,03,900/- was recovered from the parents and the vehicles were released only after the parents/owners of the vehicle came to the spot or office of Traffic police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Traffic Chinmay Pandit said that the action would continue as underage drivers are a threat for lives of themselves as well as others.
According to statistics of traffic police, between January 1, 2019 and September 23, 2019, Indora Division topped the tally, fined 45 vehicles and collected fine worth Rs 45,000 from the parents or vehicle owners. It was followed by Sadar Division which fined 26 vehicles and collected fine of Rs 22,300. 12 vehicles were fined by Ajni Division with fine of Rs 12,600; nine by Lakadganj Division with fine of Rs 7,500; six by Cotton Market Division with fine of Rs 6,000; four by Sitabuldi Division with fine of Rs 8,500, three each by MIDC and Sakkardhara Division, two by Kamptee Division and one case by Sonegaon Division.
A road safety expert said that it was noticed that 70 per cent motorbikes used by school and junior college students were above 150 cc in displacement with 15 BHP power engine, and weighed above 140 kgs. “Average weight of Standard XI student is around 60 kgs. The students are physically unfit to ride such vehicles safely but they are doing it despite risk to their life. Parents should not allow their wards to drive vehicles without driving license and administration should not allow students to enter school/college without driving license,” he demanded.
Many students, who do not have driving license, drive vehicles at high speed due to fear of Traffic Police. On several such occasions, such driving has caused accidents. It is duty of administration of every educational institution to ensure safety of students. This can be achieved by mentioning driving license number on Identity Card, the expert added.
“School/college administration should be held responsible if students do not have driving license,” he further demanded and pointed out that students performed motorbike stunts in institution’s premises and also on city roads. He called the cops to take stern action against them.
DCP Pandit said that Traffic Police would conduct surprise inspection of driving license in schools/colleges soon.
Comments
Post a Comment