Helpline receives good response

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Guwahati, March 21: Dispur has decided to extend statewide the helpline (8752914646) it had launched in the city on Monday to register complaints against reckless drivers following an encouraging response.
DTO Guwahati (Kamrup metro) S.N. Gogoi told this correspondent late this evening that given the response to the pilot project launched in the city, the transport department had decided to extend the facility throughout the state in due course. So far, the helpline has received over 200 calls, including those from Dhubri, Sivasagar, Nagaon and Dibrugarh. While most were complaint calls, some people called up to find out about the new system. The complaints from other districts will be forwarded to the respective districts.
"We had received four complaints related to bikers till yesterday. We have already issued summons to the bikers. By this evening, we received eight complaints. We are mostly concentrating on bikers. Others involved in reckless driving will also be taken to task," Gogoi said.
He said the idea was conceived by the DTO office and has full backing of the transport minister.
Under this system, the DTO will issue summons to vehicle owners. "We will check the papers and also the bike to see if there is any unauthorised modification. We will keep a watch on the biker for sometime and if he/she is found guilty, we will suspend his/her licence and take other action as well," he said.
Guwahati witnessed 909 accidents last year, resulting in 271 casualties. During Holi this year, there were 200 accidents, mostly involving bikers. There were two deaths, forcing the authorities to come up with something to rein in reckless drivers.
"One hopes the department can sustain the zeal with which they responded to the calls.Action should be taken against violators," Amar Bora, a trader, said.

The above is from the mails I receive from yahoo.com.
It is a good beginning to rein in errant vehicle drivers.
Why can't we have a similar set up in Kolkata and Bengal.
Our bus drivers are known to be very rash and have been the cause of many deaths.
The commuters in the buses ask the driver to slow down but they pay no heed as they are competing against one another to collect the maximum passengers.
Nowadays, all passengers have mobile phones.
If Lal Bazar and the local police stations could have a dedicated simple toll free number to which passengers and bystanders on the road could dial and complain, it would save quite a few lives.