Buses flout SC ban, use tinted glass, curtains

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

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Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 14

Despite complete ban by the Supreme Court on pasting black or tinted films on the window glass of buses, there is no stopping the violators, whether it is private buses or luxury buses plying to and from the Bathinda bus stand.

A visit to the bus stand revealed that these norms were hardly being followed while the police officials and traffic in-charges claimed that they had issued strict instructions to take punitive action against the defaulters.

The bus stand authorities, meanwhile, put the onus of restricting the use of tinted glass on the Traffic Police Department.

Not surprisingly, a majority of the buses found to be blatantly flouting the norms belong to major transporters and political leaders and that’s is also one of the reasons why the authorities choose to either look the other way or go soft on the defaulters.

The Supreme Court has prohibited the use of black films of any visual light transmission (VLT) or any other material (such as curtains or mesh) upon safety glass, window screens (whether front or rear) and side screens of all vehicles, irrespective of the percentage of visual light permitted or blocked, throughout the country.

Gyan Chand Bansal, a resident of Model Town, said there was no hiding the fact that four-wheelers with black films, having VIP and police stickers, were used by anti-social elements.

“Private buses are no exception. Apart from using tinted films to stop the inflow of sunlight, they also add curtains to the windows, which is again a violation. The Police Department has turned a blind eye to this. They should take stern action against the violators,” he said.

Rajni Arora, a housewife, said, “Even if the entire glass is not tinted, the operators paste a broad strip of coloured film strategically that can hide a passenger’s face. Some buses even have newspapers pasted on the windows. All these raise a question mark on the level of safety that such vehicles offer to the commuters, especially women.”

Surinder Singh, general manager of the Bathinda bus stand, said, “None of the PRTC buses use tinted glass or have curtains. There may be a few private bus operators who are using such films. It is for the traffic or the Transport Department to put an end to it.”