Tamil Nadu Police started giving a dash of yellow paint on the front and back fenders of vehicles as a measure to restrict their movement.
According to police, people continue to flout the lockdown restrictions and come out on the roads in their vehicles on one pretext or other.
Police said, vehicle having a dash of yellow paint can be seen on the roads only after five days.
If such vehicles are seen before five days, the cases will be registered against the owners and the police would seize the automobile.
It will take a long time for the vehicle owners to get their vehicles released.
A police official said on Friday a different colour paint will be used to mark the vehicle on the road. For seven days different colours will be used.
What purpose the different colours serve? Well, the cops plan to implement a new rule under which only vehicles with a particular colour will be allowed on the roads. It is similar to the odd-even rule that was implemented recently to bring the pollution under control but the Tamil Nadu cops are doing it in a different way.
The cops on the road are stopping the vehicles and are putting yellow colour on the edge of the number plates of the two-wheelers and cars on Day 1. On the following day, they put a red colour on the vehicles. Later, more colours are expected to be used by the cops.
Beginning next week, the cops will allow the vehicles with a particular colour mark on them on a day. For example, the vehicles with yellow colour on them will be able to come out on the roads while the next day, only the vehicles with red colour will be able to come out. We are not sure how many colours will be used by the cops and why they have complicated the process so much.
In a video, the cops can be seen using the colours very generously on the two-wheelers. A few cops are even putting colours on the body of the riders. We are not sure why they are doing that.
If a particular coloured vehicle comes out on a wrong day, the vehicle will get seized by the cops. The owner will have to pay the fine in the court and since it is a lockdown, even the courts are not open. So if the cops seize the vehicles, it will be available only after the lockdown lifts up. It is not known if the cops will also seize the vehicles that are not coloured or will put the colour of the day on it. Well, this new procedure can get implemented across the state, if the experiment becomes successful. Currently, this is being done only in a few areas including Salem.
Sources – Cartoq, Economic Times.