30 May,2015 02:30 PM IST | | A Correspondent
Waking up to the issues faced by women beat marshals while handling motorcycles, such as shifting gears and manoeuvring the heavy vehicle in narrow bylanes, the home department recently issued 50 Hero Maestros to the police department
Finally acknowledging the difficulties faced by women beat marshals while riding a motorcycle during patrols, the home department recently issued 50 Hero Maestros to the city police department.
Also read: Mumbai's female patrol squad can't ride bikes
Before: Woman beat marshals on motorcycles
Police officials from the department claimed that distribution of the scooties commenced on Monday. An officer, requesting anonymity, claimed that the decision to replace motorcycles with scooties was taken after reports starting pouring in about female officers meeting with accidents while navigating their vehicles through narrow lanes.
After: A team of marshals displaying a newly issued scooty
The officer further added that many women beat marshals had complained that the accidents occurred because the motorcycles were too heavy for them to manoeuvre. An officer said, "Not every police station has been allotted a scooty yet.
Only those stations, where the rate of woman-related crimes are high were issued Maestros immediately. A few of the police stations were issued two scooties, depending on their location."
Official speak
DCP Atul Patil, Motor Vehicles Department, said, "The distribution of scooties started from Monday and so far we have distributed 50 Maestros across various police stations in the city.
50 more scooties shall be distributed in the next phase." When asked whether the scooties were second hand, Patil said he needs to check with the department and disconnected the call.
