For nearly a year, Sarita Khanchandani pursued the police for action against bikers using modified silencers, her efforts lead to special drive across Thane commissionerate, 827 silencers crushed
Cops remove a modified silencer from a bike
Almost a year’s effort by a 46-year-old woman have started bearing fruit in Kalyan and Ulhasnagar as the police have started taking action against noisy bikes.
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Sarita Khanchandani of Hirali Foundation has been collecting the numbers of noisy bikes with modified silencers that emit deafening sounds, and pursuing the police to take action against such riders.
Bikers zooming on empty roads amid the Covid-19-caused restrictions have become a nuisance in the two cities. Khanchandani recently handed the police a list of around 400 noisy bikes with their registration numbers.
Activist Sarita Khanchandani with the crushed silencers
After repeated requests and RTI applications, Thane police are finally chasing noisy bikers that have modified silencers. In a special drive initiated on June 15, cops seized 827 such modified silencers and crushed them under a road roller at Kalyan and Ulhasnagar. Cops have also started sending notices to garages and shops selling or fitting modified silencers.
How the effort began
During the first lockdown, Khanchandani started hearing the deafening sound of Bullet bikes. “As we all were at home due to the lockdown, this noise from bikes troubled me a lot. Relatives and friends admitted in hospitals or under home quarantine told me the same thing. Being an anti-noise pollution activist, I decided to take up the matter with the police and write letters to them,” the Ulhasnagar resident said.
After getting no response from the police, Khanchandani filed an RTI application asking about action taken by the police in the matter. Eventually, a meeting with traffic police DCP Balasaheb Patil yielded results and he decided to take up the matter through a special drive in the Thane commissionerate against Bullet bikes with modified silencers.
In their drive between June 15 and 26, police seize modified silencers and crush them in public places
From June 15 to 26, cops seized 827 modified silencers and 400 noisy horns. “After getting a sizeable number of silencers, we take them to public places and crush them under road rollers to set an example for citizens,” said DCP Patil.
“Also, we are now checking garages and shops that sell such silencers and book them under the Motor Vehicle Act,” he added.
Surprise nakabandis have been placed to nab noisy Bullets, motorists are penalised and their modified silencers, noisy horns are seized. In Thane city, 150 such modified silencers have been seized.
Applauding the Thane police’s initiative, Khanchandani said, “We understand that the police have a lot of work. They, too, were badly hit by Covid-19 but they also get troubled by such noisy bikes. This action will be for the greater good of children, pregnant women and senior citizens.”
Action in numbers
Modified silencers that faced police action: 827
Fine for noisy silencer or horn: Rs 1,000
Noise level a vehicle must adhere to: 55 decibel
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