The Motor Vehicles Department will keep a close watch on ‘auto shows’ organised by students on campuses across the district.
The decision comes in the wake of reports that such auto shows seem to be encouraging students to display modified high-end bikes in contravention of the Section 52 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Senior enforcement officials of the department said the law prohibits customised modifications of a motor vehicle. The department will be keeping a close watch on the auto shows, especially in engineering colleges, that offer a platform for the youth to display modified high-end bikes.
The department has learnt that the auto shows, which get sponsorship from various agencies, attract a lot of crowd interested in motorbikes and high-end vehicles. Most of these vehicles cost several lakhs and the bike enthusiasts among the college-goers modify them in violation of the rules, they said.
An assessment made by the Ernakulam wing of the department found that modification of the silencers was one of the major illegal acts being done by those passionate about high-end bikes. They said that such altered motor bikes were usually found fitted with a silencer that produced harsh heavy shell noise causing sound pollution and the original hand bar was replaced with a non-standard one appearing like a pipe. This amounted to violation of Section 52 of the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 and Rule 120 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules,1989, they said.
The officials said a High Court verdict had said that any variation in terms of Section 52 of the Act like removal of the silencer or mudguard shall be viewed seriously and appropriate action taken under the Act.
“Thunderous noise emanating from the motor cycles deafens the ears and also poses a serious health hazard especially to the ailing and aged commuters on the road. The sound level has to be brought down to the decibel limits prescribed under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 in order to abate the sound pollution. Shorter handle bars which may look slim and sleek cannot be permitted to replace the standard one prescribed lest the equilibrium of the vehicle is affected,” the court observed.