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Bengaluru, Jan 28: Brace for hefty traffic penalties as the state government is all set to reverse a notification on revised fines which came into effect last September following pushback from road users and opposition parties.

The Karnataka government will implement traffic penalties as stipulated in the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, in a phased manner following a diktat from the Centre. The government did not specify the timeline for it.

“At a recent meeting of transport ministers from various states, the Union government explained why it wanted to implement these huge fines. We found it convincing and will implement it in its original form,” said transport minister Laxman Savadi on Monday.

Savadi said India’s image globally has taken a beating due to the high number of road deaths and the Centre wants to change it at any cost. However, he said the entire set of hefty fines would not be reintroduced all at once.

BJP govt revised rates in Sept

The BJP government last September had revised fines on compoundable offences and those which are fined on the spot by traffic cops by 50%- 80%, barring drunken driving and racing.

As per the revised rates, helmetless riding attracted a penalty of Rs 500 against Rs 1,000 notified by the Centre. Driving without a licence attracted a fine of Rs 1,000 for

two- and three-wheelers and Rs 2,000 for light motor vehicles as against the earlier Rs 5,000 for all types of vehicles.

The central government recently told states and Union Territories they should enforce fines as per the amended Act and they cannot be rolled back. The road transport and highways ministry said fines cannot be reduced below the minimum amount fixed by law, unless the President gives his assent.

Bengaluru, Mar 24: The usually busy and bustling city of Bengaluru wore a deserted look on Tuesday as Karnataka went into total lockdown, with the exception being the emergency services, to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday had announced a complete lockdown in the state till April 1.
"In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the entire state will be locked down from 12 am of March 23 to April 1. People are requested to strictly follow it to contain the coronavirus spread," Yediyurappa said.
Earlier, the Karnataka government had ordered the suspending of all public and private transport services.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 in India have risen to 491.

Tumkur, Feb 9: A special puja was performed at the Durga Parameshwari temple and the Shaneshwara temple in Karnataka's Rangana Halli village to save people from coronavirus.

Yashwanth Shastri, a priest, said: "We performed this special puja on Friday to save the world from virus and diseases like corona and H1N1."

"Our ancestors used to perform a special puja for the betterment of society and save the world from viruses when they attacked," he said.

Coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year and has since spread to various cities around the world.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health crisis.