BENGALURU: Irked by the increasing use of modified silencers by motorcyclists, Ulsoor Traffic police crushed around 57 silencers on Monday. Tampering with silencers to add the extra ‘glitz’ is not new. Till August 2018, the total number of violators booked for defective silencers was 3,777 in the city. The number of violators increased from 1,951 in 2016 to 5,053 in 2017.
The modified silencers are locally made and emit a lot of noise. The maximum limit for motorcycles and scooters is 80 decibel. Anything above that is a violation of law, according to The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.“We will clamp down on modified silencers and the violators will be penalised,” said a police officer who wished to be anonymous.
The traffic police make it a point to crush these silencers, instead of dumping it. “Silencers are crushed because if we throw them, they will be reused by people at garages or local mechanics,” the officer said.
Awareness among mechanics is extremely important to disseminate the importance of the law. “We have personally visited the local mechanics in Ulsoor to warn them not to replace the silencers,” the officer added.
Section 190 (2) in The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, states, “Any person who drives or causes or allows to be driven a motor vehicle in any public place, will violate the standards prescribed in relation to road safety, control of noise and air-pollution, and shall be punishable for the first offence with a fine of one thousand rupees, and for any second or subsequent offence with a fine of two thousand rupees.”
The craze of using modified silencers is predominant among 20-24 year-old youngsters. Psychologically, they do this to attract attention. We keep an eye on the violators and as soon as we receive the information through extension, we nab them”, he added.
However, the menace refuses to subside inspite of the efforts of the police and the Transport Department.
In several areas, residents said they are being continuously disturbed by modified silencers, which gives them severe headaches. “Our area has a college nearby and a lot of students zip by on their modified bikes during the day. At nights, owing to the student population visiting nearby restaurants and pubs, hearing bikes with modified silencers around 1 am has become a routine,” said Lalitha M, a resident of HRBR layout.
According to the Banaswadi traffic police, a total of 196 cases have been booked in 2018 under defective silencers. “This is a routine problem. We keep on carrying out drives to curb the defective silencers. We get these silencers removed and register a case against the accused,” said traffic personnel.